Just A Bit Of Bread
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: Change seldom starts at the top. On the contrary, it often begins at the bottom. With the weak and small, the powerless, the outcast and the helpless. Those forgotten by the masses, thought beneath their notice. How quaint. But the tiniest ripples often produce the greatest waves, wouldn't you say? Sometimes those we label as "weak" become the strongest of us all. Narutoxharem.
1. Bread

**A/N: I am so, so sorry for this.**

**I just learned that aunt's in a really bad way. Not only has she's lost both her legs to gangrene but her mind is going as well, and she...she doesn't recognize any of us anymore from what I've been told. When she does, she's mostly delusional. ****That...that really hit me hard, and before I knew it, my fingers got to typing. I suppose writing is a coping mechanism for me these days. A way to put my feelings onto pen and paper, a way to communicate with those I've lost.**

**...I'm rambling. This is the last new story; an exception to the rule of sorts. Won't happen again.**

**Now, I don't like airing personal issues here. Its something I seldom do unless a loved one has passed, or if my own health deteriorates. I already lost an uncle to suicide, and after losing my grandfather last year...I can't bear to lose anyone else. I never got to say goodbye to him. And it feels like I'm about to lose her. So I had to say something, do something, dedicate something to her. She isn't the greatest fan of some anime, but I like think she'd enjoy RWBY. She told me to chase my dreams after all, so here I am, doing what I love.**

**I'm hoping this proves to be a novel take; not many go for this angle these days.**

**Hopefully folks like this If not...well...I'll be sad, but I'll understand.**

**I already have a plan for this story. It won't be all that long.**

**Maybe ten chapters at most. Possibly less.**

**Depends on the reception it gets.**

***bows head***

_"Change seldom starts at the top._

_On the contrary, it often begins at the bottom._

_With the weak, the powerless, the outcast and the helpless._

_The tiniest of ripples effect the greatest of changes, wouldn't you say?_

_Sometimes...sometimes those we consider "weak" turn out to be the strongest of us all."_

~?

**A Bit of Bread**

_It wasn't meant to be this way._

_We killed her. I know we did. I felt it. I saw her die. Tore her head off myself even as Sasuke sealed the rest. It was a hard, bitter victory, but it was our victory. Good men and women died to get the two of us there; to give us the final opening we needed to finish Kaguya off once and for all. I devoured her body with my chakra. He sealed her soul away with his new eye. She's never getting out. Never coming back. We fought together, set aside our differences, used up the last dregs of our lives to put her away for good._

_So why am I here?_

_Why am I bleeding to death?_

_Why? I don't understand. Where did we go wrong?_

_Were we we betrayed? By whom? Were we defeated at the last minute? How? _

_None of it makes any sense. There's no one left to fight. How could we have been betrayed? Sasuke and I made settled things...well, after we blew each other's arms off, but still! That totally counts! We can't possibly die of something like blood loss or chakra exhaustion after coming this far. That's too cruel! __Are we...really going to die like this? Just like that? There's no one left to help us. All our allies gave their lives to get us to bring us to this moment. Is there anyone left in this world? Did our battle burn it down to a husk? A faded remnant of its former self? No. There must be something left. Someone. There has to be. We can't go out like this._

_Here I am, lying on the ground, guts gripping in the dark._

_I can see their bodies all around me._

_Sasuke, Sakura, even Kakashi._

_Everyone I've ever failed._

_And the others._

_So many._

_Bodies._

_So many ghosts._

_In the end, I couldn't save them, could I? Couldn't save anyone. We won the battle, but lost the war. Its not fair. What good is all this power if can't help anyone? If can't **save** anyone? Damnit, move! Move, move, move! You stupid body! Don't just give up now! Don't quit! Fight! Damnitall! Don't close your eyes! Don't fall asleep! You won't wake up again! __Kurama? Are you there? Did you die too? C'mon furball! Help me out here! You can't be gone! You can't be! __Shukaku? Guys? Anyone?_

_..._

_..._

_..._

_...guess not, huh?_

_I'm cold. I'm scared. _

_I fought. I lost. Now I rest._

_That's the way life should be, right?_

_You spend your life striving to a single point, then burn out._

_Is this what I get for trying? Maybe Madara was right...maybe a dream would've been better than this..._

_NO!_

_I refuse to believe that! If there's a god out there, please! Not like this! I don't want to go out like this! I can't! Not without knowing why! Did I accomplish anything worthwhile? Did my life truly matter? Give me a chance to find out! That's all I ask. I don't care how many lives it takes. I'll gladly die over, and over and over again if that's what it takes. Please! Let me save everyone in front of me! If its too late for my friends...then another world! Good or evil. I don't care if have to start over! Let there be some meaning in my end! Let me make a difference! Let me help someone! I'll do whatever it takes! So...please!_

_Just one more chance. Let me save someone._

_Just one life. Let me make a difference._

_I'm...begging you...here..._

* * *

**(.0.o.0.)**

* * *

_Then Carry on, My Wayward Son. Carry On._

_They'll Be Peace When You Are Done._

_Lay Your Wear Head To Rest._

* * *

**(.0.o.0.)**

* * *

Everything hurt.

Her arms, her legs, even her poor, poor tummy. No, _especially_ her stomach. She hadn't eaten in three whole days now. Hadn't had water in two. Her world was pain. Her tongue was all but glued to the roof of her mouth, unable to move. She'd try to eat it if she could. The mere act of moving took nearly everything she had and more; sent sharp shards of pain skittering down her broken leg like thousands of angry black spiders. Just the thought of it made her shudder and shiver as she curled her little body into a ball.

Emerald HATED spiders.

She was only a child after all. Girls were afraid of bugs. Bugs were nasty. Yucky. Icky.

She'd _eat_ a bug now, if she could catch one. Anything to stave off the hunger shredding her stomach.

All the while the searing summer sun of Vacuo relentlessly beat down on this girl in her ratty green dress, a harsh reminder of reality.

On some distant level Emerald knew she was dying; wasting away in a slow death of fevered starvation alongside a broken heart. No one cared about an orphan in Vacuo; they were as common as the very grains of sand themselves. They cared even less so when said orphan made her living as a thief. Not a very good one at that. She was took weak now, too weak to use her power. The faunus left her alone these days. No one had come to check on her, no one had stopped to ask if she was alright. No, she had been left to crawl along in the alleys like a rat, living off whatever scraps she could find. She was weak. Helpless. Powerless.

Because she'd screwed up; gotten herself caught.

Her "power" that one special gift that made her unique, the precious ability she'd used to survive for as long as she could remember, had failed her for the first time in her life; and she had no one to blame but herself for it. She'd made a mistake; there had been too many people around and she'd been too hungry to distract them all. When she'd tried to steal food from a merchant, his guards chased her down. They'd didn't care that she was hungry. They still hurt her. Broke her leg as a reminder. She couldn't afford any treatment; what little _lien _she managed to scrounge was soon stolen. She had no parents to speak of. There was no one to rely on. Only herself.

Her stomach growled traitorously, and she slapped at it in a fit of pique. It only made the pain worse.

Emerald hated this place; wanted to leave it behind.

They said Vale and Mistral were better than this. Why didn't everyone just go there? She would have gladly done so, if she but knew the way. Alas, she did not,

Every day the sun rose to scorch her back.

Every day Emerald would always mustered what little strength she could to crawl under an awning and find some shade.

Every day, everyone walked right over her; men, women, and children alike. None spared her so much as a passing glance. She wanted to speak, wanted to reach out, but she lacked even the will to do that. On the rare occasion she dared to try, she found herself beaten again. Vacuo was a harsh place with only one rule. Survival. If you couldn't survive on your own, you weren't welcome. Today should have been no exception.

Today, everything changed.

"Oh, jeez." a new voice made her jump. "You don't look so good."

Faltering red eyes looked up, squinting against the harsh afternoon light.

Whomever they were, they were clad in little more than dirty rags not unlike her own. His might have been red, once upon a time, before he the sand and the sun bleached them of color. Silhouetted against that blinding radiance, she glimpsed a boy nearly of her age in the light. Sharp eyes the color of bright blueberries -her stomach growled at the thought- gazed down at her, framed by whiskered cheeks alongside a messy mop of blond hair. Wait, one of those eyes was blackened by a bruise. As if he'd gotten in a fight of some sort.

But there was something else, something her blurry vision couldn't quite discern.

Emerald blinked again as she squinted into the sun. Only then did she glimpsed that pair of golden, furry ears jutting out of that tawny mane. Faunus, then? Oh no. Realization dawned, bringing with it a yawning abyss of horror that threatened to swallow her whole. Faunus were _worse_ than people, she'd seen them do terrible things to those who dared cross them. And here she was, a helpless child, barely able to crawl away. Was that a weapon in his hand?! Fear blazed to life in her chest and emerged as keening sound through her teeth. She couldn't run. Couldn't fit. She was easy prey.

Emerald curled into a fretful ball.

"Go...away..." her own words emerged as a dry croak. "I don't have...anything left to take...

"Um, why are you doing that?" the boy's voice asked, utterly befuddled. "I'm not going to hurt you, ya know."

When it became readily apparent that he wouldn't leave her be _or _lay a hand on her only then did she, she dared to peek at him through aching fingers.

Something bright and yellow swished at her feet to tickle her toes and, she noticed the tail a heartbeat later. Wait. Tails? She couldn't be sure. "Who are you?"

"Me? My name's Naruto." His head tilted, ears twitching in mild curiosity. She found it strangely adorable. his sunny disposition didn't waver in the face of her fear. "Who're _you?"_

...Emerald."

"Huh." a blink. "That's a pretty name."

Those words were spoken with all the innocent that only a child could possess, yet something fluttered in Emerald's chest all the same. Pretty. She'd never been called that one before. Trash, street-rat, waste of space, but never pretty. His smile swayed her opinion, won her heart in an instant. Even if it hadn't, the tiny canteen at his belt and the battered loaf of bread clutched in his right hand -not at all the sort of weapons she first feared- dispatched the last of her hesitation with ruthless efficacy. Her eyes were drawn to them like a moth to a flame, her throat burning, stomach curling painfully in on itself.

The boy must've seen her staring too; because he glanced at the hardened loaf.

Only then did his gaze fall back upon her.

"You want this?" he asked.

Emerald would've lunged at him, tried to take it, if she were strong enough. In her current state, she could only paw at the air and hang her head in despair. Stupid. Of course he wouldn't give it to her. Only a fool would give a starving girl their only food and water. Only the strong survived here. She tried to take her "Power", her Semblance, and push it at him. Trick him. Make him see what she wanted to see. She couldn't. The pain was too great, her hunger too taxing for her to focus. She could only groan and resign herself to failure-

Her heart just about _stopped_ when something warm and metal and _wet _gently pressed itself into her hands.

Emerald's first fearful instinct was that the canteen might have been poisoned. That this was a trick of some sort, meant to make her lower her guard. Thirst overrode this irrational paranoia as she unscrewed the cap and drank deep of the gift she'd been given. After going so long without, she nearly choked as a result. Bile threatened to swarm up her throat, but she bit it back down and forced herself to swallow. It was...not very good water all told, but it was far better than anything her parched mouth had seen for the last few days. It was, in a word, bliss.

"Slow sips, now." Naruto's voice snapped her out of her daze. "You'll not want to waste it."

In that moment, she would've died content.

Then he offered her his only bread.

Emerald went terribly still.

"What about you?"

"Eh, I'm not hungry." the Faunus favored her with a grim grin. "I already ate. Take it."

_Liar._

Now that he'd gotten this close, Emerald could see the truth; he looked worse than her. Much worse. His body was covered in bruises and scratches. He'd probably fought for that bread and water. Fought _hard._ Yet here he was, giving her his only food. But she was so very hungry and it was right there...just waiting for her...

_'Forward, ho!'_ cried the tiny Emerald in charge of her brain as it threw a lever forward.

With that finally decision made, Emerald all but snatched the loaf from his hands, nearly biting his fingers in her haste to consume this precious sustenance. It wasn't soft, warm, or even doughy at that. If anything it was hard and stale. She nearly chipped one of her teeth on it when she bit down. It wasn't all that good either. There was nothing particularly special about the meal. It was just a bit of bread. Looking back, it might have been a little stale at that.

_And yet it was the single best thing Emerald had ever tasted._

Because for the first time in her life, someone had given her food of their own volition.

Hot, bitter tears stung at her eyes as she tore into her meal, but she didn't much mind them. Because someone was here. She'd found someone who cared. For a small child who'd been neglected all her life, any form of positive attention was enough to rattle her world. Even if it came from a scruffy boy barely a year older than her. It changed Emerald's world; shunted aside the beliefs she'd held for so long. Just a hair. A touch. Just enough for a tiny seed of hope to plant itself in her heart. This also altered her focus. There was something about his eyes. They seemed...older somehow. Impossible, surely. She must be imagining things.

As she polished off the last of her meal, her gaze turned back to her savior.

She was still gnawing on the last of her bread when Naruto bent down and began to massage her head, rough fingers smoothing her green hair slowly and deliberately. Startled by this unexplained act, she glared up at him, expecting an attack. It never came. He simply continued his ministrations, stroking her scalp in small, soothing motions. Rather, her hair. The very same hair she'd ever hated, always been mocked for.

"Why?" she demanded between the last of her tentative bites. "Why would you give me your only food. Are you stupid?"

Naruto tilted his head again. "Because I wanted to." he said simply. "Do I need a reason to help someone?"

The younger girl faltered. "No, but-

That disarming grin flashed out again like gold. "Then shut up and accept my goodwill, greenie."

Apparently that "goodwill" consisted of much more than mere food; because in the time it took Emerald to nibble down on the very last of that crusty bread, her newfound friend -dare she call him such- released her head, reached down and swept her off her feet. Literally. She scarcely had a moment to gasp before she wound up on the blond's back. Her small fingers dug into the tattered fabric of his shirt. Her bad leg screamed furiously at this sudden movement, forcing the girl to grit her teeth against it and ride out the pain. But even that searing agony paled in comparison to her confusion.

"Wha?! Hey! Stop!" She spat. "Where are you taking me?"

Naruto didn't even deign to look back at her. "Home."

"I don't _have_ a home!" she hissed.

"You do now."

Something fractured deep inside of Emerald.

It began as a tiny crack in her defenses, a faint line etching itself against the walls she'd put up around herself. A faint tremor rattled her shoulders, followed by a fully body shiver. She fought it at first, refusing to accept the truth. With each passing step, her defenses began to crumble. Naruto kept walking. Heedless of the looks they garnered, heedless of the jeers. All the while, Emerald continued to tremble. One hand rose to cup her mouth, while the other fastened itself firmly onto his shoulder. She bit her lip to hold back her tears, worrying it between her teeth as her emotions went to war with one another. Though she had no way of knowing, even in another life, Naruto was still, well...Naruto. No matter the life or incarnation, he had that effect on people. That, and he simply didn't take no for an answer.

Still, her fears fought her for every step he took, trying to claw her back. "Y-You're just going to betray me-

"Nope." Naruto chimed in loudly over her words. "Dunno what that word means."

Emerald twitched. "You can't just force me to be friends with you-

"Nope. Can. Am." her captor disagreed with a whistle. "Did!"

Em wriggled wildly. "Let me argue with you, dummy!"

A blue eye peeped at her over his arm. _"Nope!"_

"Uggggggggh! Where are we even going?!"

"Nope. You'll see when we get there!"

_"Naruto!"_ she cried, seething.

"Aha! You said my name!"

Emerald couldn't win; every argument was utterly dismantled before she could find her footing, each path crumbling. Resistance was futile. Much to her dismay, she soon realized she didn't _want _to win this fight, it was far, far too late for her. She wanted to hold onto this tiny, fragile hope in her chest, cradle it for all it was worth. At some point, she realized her leg had stopped hurting her altogether; the boy had done something, used some strange power to heal her while they bickered and she hadn't even noticed. Once she realized that, the last of little Emerald's walls came crashing down and she was lost. She wept and sobbed and wailed and clung onto Naruto's back for dear life, terrified that he would finally come to his senses and drop her at any moment. He didn't. He never did.

And from that single act of kindness, that tiny transient friendship between two children, a ripple formed.

That ripple would one day become a towering wave, sweeping everyone before it.

The echoes of this action would forever shape the world to come.

But for now? It was Just A Bit of Bread.

**A/N: Yup, nice and wholesome for little Emerald.**

**Only a heartless bastard would refuse to feed a starving child. Funny how a single act of kindness can change the world, huh? ****Cinder won't be getting her claws into Emerald in this story. ****Somehow, I don't think that'll stop miss Fall for long. Or will it? Who can say? A LOT of what happened in Vol. 3 hinged on Emerald's involvement. Also, consider this: if she has a chance to train her Semblance and let it evolve...dear god she'd be a terrifying opponent.**

**Obvious timeskip next chapter, of course.**

**Naturally, Naruto and Em will both be attending Beacon Academy before anyone starts asking. Furthermore, they'll be on a team together. Can't say anymore for fear of giving things away. I'll leave it to you readers to guess the who, what, when, where and why; though I think I've been dropping come big honking hints. Main pairing is NarutoxEmerald, but its also a bit of a harem...and not just for 'ol whiskers either.**

**Now for the fun part. Just what do you think their team will be?**

***grins***

**Now onto your questions. This is a REINCARNATED version of Naruto who died and merged with the very last dregs of Kurama's chakra. His memories of his past life are still there, just...buried. Yes, he's a Faunus this time around. He's still himself, but he's not a walking nuke either. He'll possess two Semblances rather than the traditional single. Emerald keeps hers, and Narut certainly isn't immune to it. He doesn't have an angry fox to deflect that sort of thing this time around. Of course, he also has his own weapon. Its...different to say the least.**

**So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...**

**...Review Would You Kindly?**

**Keeps an old man alive.**

**Have a preview.**

**Hints ahoy!**

**(Preview)**

_"WE'RE LATE!"_

_Naruto's eyes snapped open a heartbeat before a pillow collided with his face. He caught the first. Not so the second. __No, the **second** was anything but an illusion; it smacked him right on the nose and sent him tumbling out of bed like a startled Ursa. "Hey! What the hell, Em?!"_

_"Shush! We worked our asses off to get out of that hole in Vacuo! I'm not going back there because you slept in!_

_"Slept in for what...?"_

_A tan teenage blur shot past him, shedding and donning clothes in a writhing whirlwind of brown and green._

_"You dolt! We're gonna be late for the Hunter exam! Quick! Use your Semblance to get us there!"_

_His ears twitched. "What? No! I'm not some glorified teleporting taxi!"_

_"I'll buy you a weeks worth of ramen!" she shot back._

_Blue eyes lit up. "DONE!"_

* * *

_"Huh." Naruto noted. "That guy just died."_

_Emerald shrugged. "And nothing of value was lost."_

_With a silent fist bump, Gold and Emerald continued onward._

* * *

_"We stick together. No matter what."_

_He thought her saw her blush, just a touch. "Always."_

**R&R~!**


	2. Rise and Shine

**A/N: EDIT: Flames again. Really? REALLY?! Can't we all just get along? Stop telling me to die, will ya?!**

**Furthermore, the reason Naruto has TWO Semblances? That's a plot point. You'll hear about it in the third chapter.**

**After all, this is our boy we're talking about here. ****Just reincarnated in a different body.**

**There, that's the disclaimer out of the way here.**

**Sorrrrrrrrry~! Work issues kept me away longer than I liked.**

** IMPORTANT NOTE: ****Yes, we've had quite the timeskip! I won't say anymore for fear of spoilers, but...get ready to smile.**

**Naruto and Emerald have changed more than you think, this chapter goes to show just how much has been altered.**

**Furthermore, Ozpin and Glynda's speech is paraphrased from Volume One. Hope that alleviates any confusion.**

**My team is busy with real life issues atm, so its just little 'ol me writing again for now.**

**Well, the Corona Virus is certainly making an impact isn't it? ****Things are getting crazy out there. ****One of my two jobs even go shut down due to his madness. And**** the other involves retail and foodstuffs. ****I've had an up-close-and-personal view of just how nasty things are. ****Angry mobs, fighting over water and toiler paper, not to mention food and milk. I almost got knifed over food. **

**FOOD!**

**You know, it really seems like people are losing their mind these days. I get that the you-know-what virus is bad and all here in the States; sometimes it feels like the world's about to end. I get that its causing panic, but c'mon! We've survived far worse than this, and I know in my heart that the world -all of us!- will get through this just the same. Hang in there guys and gals. I _know_ we can get through this. Strange as it may sound, I have faith in humanity.**

**Just as I believe in each and every one of you. ****Alright, onto the story notes!**

**Emerald's Semblance has had the chance to evolve over time, in that she can cast it on more of people without collapsing immediately. It gives her intense migraines of course; too much strain and she'll knock herself right out.**

**Think of her as a tame/less spastic version of Nora in this story; in that she's VERY open with her affection towards Naruto and quite protective. They aren't together yet. Now that I think about it, Emerald's and Naruto's upbringing is quite similar to what Red and Nora went through. Both grew up as orphans. However, I want to point out a VERY big difference. Vacuo has hardened Naruto and Emerald in ways that Ren and Nora aren't yet capable of. They've done some dark things to get to Vale, things they're not proud of, but did anyway.**

**Now I COULD have taken the easy route and slapped them with Cinder, following the events of canon.**

**But then I thought to myself, I want this to be something different than usual. New! Unique!**

**Emerald will keep Thief's Respite of course, because its a nasty, wicked little thing.**

**Someone also pointed out a quote for me that describes this story perfectly:**

_**"Bad guys who protect their friends are the best kind of friends to have."**_

**As for the team they're on...hehehehe...you won't be disappointed.**

**In fact, this chapter is easily one of the dirtier ones at that.**

**Someone asked if Illia is in this story. Aye, she is!**

**Wonder if you can spot her?**

_"Why do you put up with me like this? I'm poison. I'll just drag you down again."_

_"Eh, I like trouble. Peace is boring. Life's more fun this way, you know?"_

_"But why?! You'd have a better life without me! Your Semblance-_

_"Nope. You an' me? We're besties now. Tough luck."_

_"Dolt! You...you could go anywhere Be anyone!"_

_"So you're saying I should choose, then?"_

_"YES! Finally, you're listening to me-_

_"Then I choose to be your friend."_

_*screams incoherently*_

_~early days._

**Rise and Shine**

_He was having the dream again, wasn't he?_

Naruto knew it the moment he opened his eyes and found himself standing in a sewer for what felt like the umpteenth time. When he inhaled, the cloying and musty scent of decay invaded his nose. When he moved, the faint slosh of water lapped against the legs of his jeans. When he strained his ears, he caught the distant sound of deep breathing. Well. That confirmed it. Dream it was. Who thought up this tacky scenery anyway? Was this meant to intimidated him. And it had. The first few times. Now? It was already old hat to him.

Naruto craned his neck, frowning in the dim light as shadows splayed across his face. "Here again, huh?"

It was always like this; every night since he'd turned seventeen, this vision had plagued him without fail. That had been a month ago now. It wasn't even that unpleasant anymore, really. Just...confusing. Every night he woke to find himself here, standing at the end of a long corridor, bleak metal-green walls stretching into the distance as far as the eye could see. As always he would glimpse something standing on the other side.

Something -or was it someone?- was waiting for him.

He didn't know how he knew, only that he _did._

Just as he knew he'd fail to reach the other side in time. He always did. No matter how softly he stepped, no matter how quickly he managed to move. He suspected even if he ran at it full steam, he would inevitably wake before he found the end of the corridor. It was simply a fact of life. One that had grown increasingly tiresome. If this dream was trying to tell him something, it wasn't doing a very good job. Weren't visions supposed to do that? Impart nuggets of wisdom or something?

Didn't stop him from wading through the swampy water again anyway.

"Look, whoever you are, I don't get what you're trying to tell me." his voice echoed out into the dank corridor. "But this needs to stop."

Silence reigned supreme. A blond brow twitched.

"Fine. Be that way."

Against his better judgement, the blond surged forward in a mad dash, sending water spitting at his heels as his body blurred. Blue eyes squinted into the darkness and the salty spray, desperately trying to glimpse at the large antechamber beyond. There was something there. Something large. Red. He just couldn't discern its shape. Not yet. But he'd reach it this time. He was Determined. Nothing would wake him before he made it. So it came as something of a surprise when he did; crashed into the room beyond the corridor at last to finally find...

Hot, fetid breath washed over his face.

...teeth. Lots of teeth. More than he could possibly count.

_Shit shit shit! What the hell is that?! Reverse course! Stoooop!_

Naruto slammed himself to a halt, water spraying up at his ankles.

There was no other word for the creature looming before him, nor the toothy maw looming before him. The body connected to it? More so. Gods, it just didn't end. Sprawled in the darkness like some kind of great god, it didn't make any move to attack. Worse, the beast didn't appear to be terribly interested in him. If anything, it seemed to be...asleep? He wasn't sure if he should be appalled or relieved. It was just laying there in the darkness, snoring softly. There was something familiar about it; as though he'd found a long lost friend.

An itch started in the back of his head.

_"Wake up."_

"Not this time, you bastard." Naruto growled. "Who the hell are you?"

_"Wake. Up."_

"I said no, godamnit!" he grit his teeth. "Who are you?! Why do you keep bringing me here?!"

_"I SAID WAKE UP!"_

Now that aggravating itch ignited into full blow pain, causing him to snarl and, clutching at his aching skull.

His boot shot out and kicked the creature right in the snout. "Oh, for crying out loud! Pay attention to me, damnit!"

With that, he got his wish; though he'd soon regret it. A massive crimson eye snapped open to regard him in the black. Naruto sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. His own reflection gazed back at him within that bloody iris. His own face...and yet not. Warmer, without his faunus traits. With less scars and a strange metal headband wrapped around his forehead. Then that terrifying eye blinked and the image was gone, replaced by the _giant freaking fox right in his face._ Its voice was thunder in his ears:

**"You're not ready."**

"Wait, what the hell does that-

Then a giant crimson paw came crashing down upon his head and he knew no more.

* * *

_(.0.0.0.)_

* * *

"WAKE UP!"

Naruto's eyes snapped open with a start; not from Emerald's voice, but the inhuman snarl that haunted that last moments of his dream. Just as well too-because not a heartbeat later a pair of pillows sailed toward his face. He grabbed at the first, only to blink when his hand passed through it like so much empty air. Not so the second; the second was anything but an illusion; it smacked him right on the nose and sent him tumbling out of bed with a roar like a startled Ursa. To his credit, he successfully evaded the third, snatched it up with his tail, and flung it back at her face.

"Hey! What the hell, Em?!"

"Shush!" her voice surged at him as he scrubbed sleep from his eyes. "We worked our asses off to get out of that hole in Vacuo! Do you have any IDEA how hard it was to forge all that bloody paperwork?" His silver jacket sailed out and smacked him in the face as struggled upright, fingers wrapping around the red-streaked material. "I'm not going back there because _you_ slept in!"

"Slept in for what...?" Naruto groaned.

Grumbling all the while, his mind reluctantly concluded its threat assessment and concluded he wasn't in peril by the time he pulled on a pair of worn black jeans alongside a tattered saffron shirt. Right. One bed, a dirty window spilling shards of morning light into the room. Walls of faded cream and a carpet that hadn't been cleaned in months. This wasn't Vacuo. This was Vale. More aptly, this was their apartment; the one they'd been renting for the better par of a week now in preparation for...what was it again? Damnit. He'd forgotten. His bleary mind grasped at the details and they slipped through his fingers like so much rainwater.

So what the hell was he forgetting?

_"Catch!"_

Devil's Retribution whipped toward his head from the corner of his eye, and Naruto instinctively snagged his treasured -and aptly named!- weapon out of the air, staggering a bit before the paired red and black blurs could whirl from his grasp to decimate a nearby wall. His fingers closed around the curved steel as he swung it onto each arm, feeling it hum pleasantly beneath his grasp as the heavy metal within absorbed the impact, sealing it away to be unleashed later. They weren't small; on the contrary, anyone else would've struggled just to wield one of them with both hands and here. That he could wield one to each wrist spoke of his strength. Donning his weapons always felt like coming home...or it would have if he hadn't nearly lost his head just now.

He said as much. "Watch it! You trying to kill me or something?!"

"Sorry!" Emerald's head poked around the corner! "Just get ready already, will you!?"

Securing the twin circular great shields to each wrist -and careful to check his reflection in their polish- gave the young man's mind mind a moment to kick itself back into gear. He almost wished it hadn't. Pure Atlesian steel shimmered back up at him, and he saw his eyes widen within. Oh. Right. _That_ was today, wasn't it? Emerald had every right to be mad at him then.

Sure enough, a tan teenage blur shot past him, shedding and donning clothes in a writhing whirlwind of brown and green.

"C'mon! We're gonna be late for the Hunter exam! Quick! Use your Semblance to get us there!"

His ears twitched. "What? No! I'm not some glorified teleporting taxi!"

"I'll buy you a weeks worth of ramen!" she shot back.

Blue eyes lit up. "DONE!"

"Wait!" much to his annoyance, she stepped back when he approached and performed a quick spin. "How do I look?!"

Say what you would about her, but she certainly had a...unique taste in fashion.

Today's attire was much as it had always been; in that it consisted of a sand-worn white jacket alongside a shallow olive crop top and pants that hinted at the flowing curves beneath. White shorts flowed down into brown chaps that ended at her calves and long belt wrapped to keep her weapons in a pouch. Thief's Respite winked out at him for a moment as she presented her back to him, her hips swaying just so. Her hopeful expression, that silent desire for his approval melted any resistance he might've mustered. This was the girl he'd fallen in love with. The girl he'd sworn to become a Hunter with. And she was asking him how she looked?

He never stood a chance.

Naruto swallowed thickly, suddenly struck by an inexplicable urge to kiss his longtime friend and bend her over a-DOWN BOY! He ruthlessly slapped down his libido when it reared its ugly head. Alas, the same could not be said for his mouth and a lone word tumbled out of his lips before he could think to hold himself back.

"Beautiful."

No! Bad tongue!

This was mutiny!

Em's face went red.

"O-Oh." She turned, twirling a strand of mint green hair in her finger. "Is that so? Do my hair, would you?"

It wasn't a command, but a request, one he responded to nonetheless.

Reaching around, Naruto plucked a hair tie from the dresser and helped her bind her flowing green locks into a loose ponytail. Under normal circumstances she preferred to wear it down, but he understood the need to make an impression. Emerald liked her hair. She'd taken to growing it out ages ago; he suspected it had something to do with a remark he'd made about it when they were children. Still, who was he to complain? She looked good. Damn good at that, though he wasn't about to trust his tongue again.

So he took a step forward again.

"Hold up." her hand settled against his chest.

His lips pursed in a thin line of displeasure. "Now what?!"

He wasn't expecting her to bury her head into his chest, wrap both arms around him, and inhale deeply. He fought down a pleasant shiver as her own scent rushed over him. At such close proximity, it was near impossible to ignore. She smelled of shampoo and mint, all warm soft curves and toned muscle pressing against him. It felt...nice, all things considered. She hadn't done this in awhile. Which left him utterly baffled as to why she had chosen to glomp him now. Weren't they running late already?

"Uh...Em?" Naruto croaked. "What are you doing?"

She hummed happily into his chest. "Just getting my fix."

Naruto wrinkled his nose. Uh-oh. A content Emerald meant a mischievous Emerald. This did not bode well for him. Or maybe it did bode well. Girls were _confusing_ and he knew Emerald better than most. He didn't much feel like pushing her off at the moment. Meh. In the end Naruto gave in and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Don't let go, alright?" he warned. "Its gonna be a bumpy ride."

Scarlet eyes gleamed up at him. "Let go? Of you? Never."

_And the world fell away._

* * *

_(.0.0.0.)_

* * *

Naruto didn't much like his Semblance.

It was the first -the one he was even now utilizing at this very moment- not the second that troubled him. All told, the second was...suited to the skills he'd cultivated over the last ten years. He'd learned to fight and win through any means necessary, to cover distances quickly when engaging any and all opponents. Even he knew how uncommon it was to possess such a unique ability. One powerful Semblance such as Emerald's was rare to begin with. But two? Someone capable of wielding two _separate_ Semblances? That was unheard of.

Ah, but he digressed.

His first, not-so-aptly named Flash, allowed him and anyone in contact with him to travel between any point he had marked with Aura-infused ink. A touch was all it took to mark something and he could mark_ a lot _before his reserves ran low. On paper it sounded like a perfect Semblance. Near instantaneous teleportation? Emerald had once equated it to something called fast travel from one of her video games. In combat it was particularly potent. Not quite super speed, but something on another level entirely.

The downside? Each jump was a blind one.

All the world would turn bright and gold whenever Naruto used his Semblance and he often had little control of how he landed. Nor could he see who or what was on the other side until he'd already made the "leap" as it were. Longer jumps would leave him exhausted for days at a time. The more passenger? The more strain. He would know. He'd tried jumping back to Vacuo once when he was younger. _Once._ The return trip had left him with a raging fever, leaving an equally frantic Emerald to nurse him back to health. It wasn't something he was keen to try again.

Fortunately, the apartment they'd rented with the last of their savings wasn't far from the Academy.

Unfortunately, their landing wasn't exactly gentle this time around.

"Oomph?!"

Emerald's arms tightened around him as reality snapped back into existence, holding on for dear life. They didn't so much land as they did drop; because he'd placed the mark for his Semblance just a little higher than he should have. Better for it to be high up and hard to reach -as well as remove!- than risk it being discovered and destroyed. Still, their landing was rather softly all things considered.

"Not bad, hotshot." Emerald hummed, content in his arms. "You stuck the landing this time without any problems. Good job."

"I'll say," a new voice crooned beneath them, causing the unlikely pair to jump. "There's just one _tiiiiiiny_ little problem. Well, maybe not so tiny."

Naruto and Emerald looked down as one. Much to their dismay, a pair of a black wire-rimmed aviator sunglasses stared back at them; framed by daring dark hair, and a young woman's rueful-yet-pained smile. Well, that much was to be expected, given they were _all but sitting on her stomach_ and pinning her to the ground. A beat of silenced passed between the trio. Then another. Another still.

"Hello, there." Their victim groaned, patting Naruto's tail. "Could you get off me,_ please?"_

The blond spun upright with a mortified yelp, pulling his partner with him.

"Sorry!"

Caramel-colored eyes regarded them as she climbed to her feet. "Well, you didn't have to do it _that_ fast...

Something in Emerald bristled as she laid eyes on the girl.

The newcomer -whom she solemnly swore to refer to as Sunglasses henceforth!- had a...unique taste in fashion.

For that was exactly what the brunette seemed to be wearing; the latest designer brands from Atlas to Vale, and a long cocoa-colored shirt with dark brown trousers with ribbons and a waist cincher to match. For some strange reasons she had a number of cartridges slung into her belt along the length of her hips alongside a long drape of black skirt hanging on her right side. And of course she had to top off the look with a pair of dark brown, high-heeled leather boots with more buckles. Did this girl had a fetish for bukcles and ammo-belts or something?

Worse, Naruto seemed to have taken it into his head to give her a once over. "You're not hurt, are you? We landed pretty hard."

"Don't sweat it, hot stuff." Sunglasses hummed, dusting herself off. "Its not everyday I get double-teamed."

Emerald bridled anew at the insinuation. "Who the hell are you?"

Sunglasses sketched a shallow bow.

"Coco Adel, aspiring huntress at your service." she paused with a touch of flair, straightened, and touched a finger to her smirking lips. "At least I will be once I ace this test. Say, that's a nice Semblance you've got there, whiskers." her head tilted, regarding something over his shoulder. "Teleportation, right? Haven't seen one like that before. Must be useful." she flashed a wink at him. "Can I keep you?"

Naruto nearly choked on his own tongue and Emerald was only a beat behind.

"What?!"

"Kidding, I'm kidding!" She laughed.

Naruto blinked, ears flatting against his head. "So how did you-

"Well, I _was _looking at that before the two of you came dropping in".

The now-named Coco waved up at the black seal mark had Naruto placed on the wall and sure enough their gaze followed hers. He'd marked a random patch of stone on the Academy grounds. Not very smart in hindsight, but he hadn't been thinking at the time. Mistakes were made.

With a thought, he leaped up and slammed his palm against the mark to banish it.

"Well. I was wondering who had the balls to slap graffiti up there." Coco paused to to plant a hand on her hips as she tilted her shades down, exposing those bright eyes again. "You've got stones, kid. What's your name?"

...Naruto." Surely there wasn't any harm in telling her that. Was there?

"Hmm. Foreign." her grin blossomed anew. "I like that."

_Emerald didn't._

Something ugly had reared its head in her heart the moment she laid eyes on this girl and now it bared its teeth like an angry dragon in the face of this unprecedented threat. Was this...jealousy? She wondered if it was. Emerald had never experienced the like before. She'd spent years honing her skills alongside her partner. Trained up her Semblance to the point that it was the literal equivalent of a _mindfuck_ as they traveled the world together. Moving to Vale and trying to become Hunters had been her choice as much as his. The life of a thief was a poor one, and they'd wanted something better than Vacuo. Atlas...Atlas had been a rude awakening.

Damn Naruto and his curiosity. Why did he have to steel those shields?

And now on the first day of what was to be their new life, someone sauntered in and said things to him Emerald would never dare speak aloud.

Already she felt the beginnings her Semblance start to sizzle in response to her stress. It wasn't that this girl was pushy; on the contrary, she walked a fine line between sense and snark, navigating that tender tightrope with ease. She was just so full of...personality. Under any other circumstance Emerald was certain they would have gotten along swimmingly. But now that personality that was directed toward Naruto. _Her_ Naruto. He didn't even seem to realize it, fielding her endless questions as he did. Well, she could change that, couldn't she? Just a thought, a bit of focus on Coco, and her Semblance would do the rest. Not Naruto. He'd see what she was up to right away. Better to startle her rival than...

Her mind actually rebooted for a moment, causing the girl to blink.

Reality slapped her. Oh god, she had a rival on her first day.

Right, that did it. She was _pissed._

Naruto sensed something amiss immediately; he knew it by the chill that shot down his spine, just as he saw Emerald's red eyes begin to brighten. She was about to unleash her Semblance, a tell so minuscule that only he saw it; and even then that slip of knowledge was born from spending years together. No one else could possibly notice. Frankly, it was something of a miracle that he did; likely because he'd been exposed to it time and time again in the last decade. So long as she didn't catch him when he was half asleep, he could always tell fact from fiction.

"Hey, now." Which was _precisely _why he slipped in and laid a hand on Em's shoulder before she could do anything untoward to Coco. "We're all friends here!"

"Are we?" Emerald's smile was a touch too sweet. "I can't recall."

Coco caught it too; because she hefted her purse over a shoulder. Wait. Was that thing a purse? Emerald wondered. It looked more life a briefcase. Was that supposed to be her weapon? Beggars couldn't be choosers she supposed, but now the look the girl was shooting them looked almost...coy, by comparison.

"Wait. Are you two...?"

She made a motion with her fingers.

"Together?" Naruto frowned. "Not like that."

"So you're free for the taking, then? Good to know."

Thankfully, someone intervened before Emerald could throttle her.

"Oh, gods." a distant voice cried out in meek dismay. "Coco, what did you do this time?!"

The brunette's head snapped to the side as the rapid sound of footfalls approached. "Nothin', bun-bun. Just making new friends-HEY?! Don't drag me!"

Not another one!

"We're already _late!"_ came the whine. "We don't have _time_ for friends!"

Sure enough, a brown blur latched onto the fashionista and promptly began to haul her off. Emerald was half inclined to let her. Nevermind being late; losing a few minutes was more than worth it if she meant she could distance herself from this girl. She would have gotten away with it too; if Naruto hadn't seized the opening and snagged _her_ by the wrist, dragging him forward after them at a brisk pace. The illusionist tried to dig her heels in, to no avail.

"Traitor!"

A bland look silenced her.

"Oh, hush. We're going the same way."

"This here's Velvet Scarlatina." Coco said by way of greeting as they caught up. "Don't mind her. She's shy."

The girl offered a meek, wave. "H-Hello."

Emerald immediately realized the newcomer was a faunus if only because of her rabbit ears. By contrast, her doe-like eyes made her seem almost harmless. Clad in a brown long-sleeved jacket that wrapped down around her chest over her, shirt, she wore golden spaulders and vambraces on both arms, with a similar belt, and her heel and toes were likewise defended. Her leggings were more of the same, but by then Emerald had already dismissed her as harmless. If Coco was an alpha predator then this one was a harmless little bunny by comparison. No pun intended. Didn't mean she had to like the way the girl was looking at Naruto.

"You're a faunus?"

Much to her chagrin, the blond preened. "Ears gave it away, huh?"

Velvet's own perked up. "N-No! Not at all! Its just, I couldn't help but notice your tail...

"Fluffy, right?" Coco reached out to brush a hand through the golden fur, causing the whiskered warrior to jolt.

"Stop that!" he hissed, swatting her hand.

"Oho, sensitive are we?" the brunette waggled a brow at him. "Make sense, I guess. Velvet's kinda the same way with her ears and all."

"COCO!"

"What, just being honest!"

Emerald wanted nothing to do with _that_ conversation, but a thought occurred to her and she seized on it as they walked. "Why were you running late?"

Velvet's ears drooped at the distraction and the poor girl suddenly looked like someone had kicked her puppy. "Coco's fault. Not mine."

"I needed my coffee, okay?!" the brunette flung up her hands. "That Vale slop is disgusting! What's _your_ excuse?"

Naruto and Emerald exchanged a wry, knowing look._ Don't you dare!_ the latter willed at him.

"Slept in." the former confessed immediately, scratching the back of his head.

"Seriously?" Coco guffawed right back. "Didn't take you for the type."

"I'm not." Naruto sniffed, his prided wound. "Em kept me up-

Emerald stomped on his foot, drawing a whine. _"Why?!"_

"No reason." she stuck her tongue a thim.

In short order the unlikely quartet bustled their way to Beacon with a few other latecomers. All the while Emerald prayed she'd never see Coco or Velvet again. That they'd simply go their separate ways and be done with one another. No more interruptions. No more new faces. It was a simple wish, she thought. Surely the gods would grant it.

_The gods laughed at her._

She knew it the moment her shoulder clipped someone who _wasn't _Naruto. To be fair, it wasn't Emerald's fault. She'd been clinging to his arm and hadn't gone out of her way to bump into anyone deliberately. Someone had tried to bull past _them_ and wound up clipping _her_ instead. She glimpsed red hair and a pair of broad shoulders out of the corner of her eye before she wrenched her head back. Nope. Not doing it. Not interacting with whoever the hell that was. She didn't want to people anymore today. Her first instinct was to clamp down on her tongue, lest she draw even more attention to themselves.

"Hey!" Leave to her partner to raise his voice. "Watch we're you're going!"

The redhead turned and Emerald glimpsed a frown set in a pale face. It was a young man, thank the gods.

Clad almost entirely in black, it made his slim figure and sharp eyes all the more striking. Wait. Was that a sword at his belt?

"My apologies." his voice was crisp and brisk, as though he were reciting lines from a script. "I wasn't paying attention." The tension in his shoulders and the deathgrip on his weapon told another story. He looked fit to burst at any moment. Indeed, when his gaze found Naruto and Velvet, he almost looked as though he would speak further. Only then did he deign to finally look at her and Coco. Whatever the stranger saw between the four of them must have calmed him somehow; because those stern eyes softened and his hand fell from the hilt of his sword.

"You gonna say something else, angsty?" Coco arched an eyebrow as she tapped her foot.

Her quip almost made Emerald smile. What _was _it with this girl and her nicknames?

The swordsman blinked, somewhat taken back by her blase tone.

Shaking his head, he muttered something and strode away.

Emerald followed him, the fainest frown on her lips.

It sounded almost like he'd said_ acceptable._

"Who the hell was that?"

Naruto shrugged.

"Who knows?"

They continued on in companionable silence after that and soon arrived at their destination; no sooner did they reach the academy grounds than they found themselves bundled together and crammed into the auditorium like a pack of sardines.

Emerald wasn't surprised to see a microphone awaiting on stage.

Well, that settled her suspicions. Someone would be giving a speech, she realized with a pang of dread. Perhaps it was the Vacuo girl in her, but she _loathed_ speeches. They were flowery and a waste of time. Actions were what mattered, now pretty words on stage. Any attempt on her part to slip away was ruthlessly thwarted as the bodies pressed in tightly around her and her companions, pinning them in place, Coco and Velvet all crushed in against them. Bastards. Why had she agreed to become a huntress again?

When a hand found her shoulder, she almost jumped.

"Breathe." Naruto's voice was a warm breath in her ear. "We're not in any danger here."

Emerald squirmed, suddenly aware of just how close they were to each other, and not at all disliking it.

"I hate speeches," she grumbled, flicking a glare over her shoulder. "You know that. There's no point to them."

"Maybe not," her partner favored her with a roguish grin, but his eyes narrowed when he saw her hand stray toward's Coco's pocket. "Don't. We're not thieves anymore, Em."

She wilted. "Sorry. Old habits die hard."

His chin settled on her shoulder. "They do, don't they?"

Emerald felt a slow blush heat the back of her neck. "What're you doing?"

"Getting comfy." came the yawn. "Something tells me we're gonna be here awhile."

"What-don't fall asleep on me!" She shook herself to throw him off. "I know what you're doing. You're trying to distract me."

Blue eyes twinkled merrily. "It worked, didn't it?"

Sure enough, by the time she turned back to the stage, a smartly dressed man clad in black with pale hair -Ozpin, Naruto whispered to her- had already stepped up to the mic.

Coughing into his fist, he commanded their attention.

"I'll keep this brief. I see many of you here before me today. Some from Altas, Mistral, Vale, and even Vacuo." Naruto and Emerald perked up when that bespectacled gaze raked over them. "Whatever your backgrounds, whatever your past, you have traveled here in search of knowledge; knowledge to hone your craft and acquire new skills." he paused for effect, waiting for his words to sink in. "And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. As I look amongst you now, I see the potential for greatness; but also, wasted energy in need of purpose, and direction."

Coco sneezed, but still Ozpin continued:

"You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge will only carry you so far." his gaze swept over each of them, from a slight looking girl bearing a whip, a stunning young woman clad in a sinfully sensual red dress. "It is up to you to take the first step and in that, I wish you well."

With that, he stepped aside and a woman in white stepped forth to take his place.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight." she instructed, keen eyes boring into each of them in turn. "Tomorrow your initiation begins. Until then, you are free to move about the campus as you see fit. Dismissed."

"Sounds like quite the wait." Emerald groused.

"I'll say." someone grumbled.

She thought it Naruto's voice, but when she turned, she found a boy with silver hair and leather armor waiting for her. What? Where the devil had her partner gone? Red eyes flicked left, then right to no avail. Somewhere in between the speeches, the press of bodies had parted and they'd been separated. He wasn't anywhere to be seen, nor were Coco or Velvet at that. Where had they gone?

"I'm sorry," she muttered, trying to excuse herself from the mess she'd fallen into. "I thought you were someone else."

"I get that a lot. Mercury Black." the silver-haired youth beamed and offered his hand. "Nice to meet ya."

Emerald twitched; not out of any dislike for the silver-haired boy...but something else. She'd always been able to read people, even as a little girl. If a thief didn't know how to read their mark, said thief didn't live long. It was a mistake she'd made once when she was little once. Once. Never again. Ever since she'd ever kept her guard up. And something about him made a silent voice in the back of her head hiss. So she refused his hand and stepped back half a pace. Then another. And another still.

"Sorry." she said." I don't shake hands with strangers."

Mercury arched a demure eyebrow. "What's wrong? Scared?"

Emerald bristled. "Of you? Hardly." _She was terrified._ "I didn't-

"Em, come on." Naruto's voice called somewhere behind her. "We've gotta get ready!"

"Where the hell did you go, red eyes?!" Of course, that was Coco again.

"Right, they're looking for me." she sighed, relieved. "Gotta go."

Perhaps should've hesitated. Should've watched him.

Instead she turned, dismissing him in her haste.

She missed the leer Mercury shot at her back.

_...see you around."_

**A/N: Aaaaand the plot thickens.**

**Mercury's creeping about. But for good or ill, I wonder...?**

**Adam is FAR more sane in this story, not at all the psycho we got in later volumes.**

**We'll get to see the good bits next chapter, this one was more of a preparation, and I DID promise an update today.**

**NOW HOLD ON! WAIT JUST ONE SECOND! Before anyone hauls off and starts shouting at me for the stunt I've just pulled. ****Did we glimpse a certain psychotic redhead? Or a certain power hungry woman we all know and love/despits? No, surely not. Surely not. Right? Now, whatever would bring Adam and Cinder to disguise themselves and attempt such a scheme, let alone together? ****And a girl with a whip. Whomever might that be?**

**I'm being sarcastic, of course.**

**That's right. Without Emerald, Cinder wasn't confident to try and tackle Amber head on. I mean, they BARELY got her when it was three against one. Anything less than that and she wouldn't be able to pull it off.**

**Probably has something to do with Amber being alive and walking around as an independent huntress. **

**I DID say this story would be one for the ages.**

**Naruto's weapon idea and dual semblance came from the idea a fan suggested, but with a vicious twist. Shields are meant to protect...but they can smash your face in if you're not careful. Which led our boy to use his like the good 'ol Captain America of yore. But his are rebounding PAIR of shields that store kinetic energy and unleash it with a push. Couple that with his already absurd physical strength atop his past life, and you've got a walking tank. No swords for him. He doesn't need them, though I dare say he could teach Jaune a thing or two if asked.**

**As for his Semblances; w****ell, "Flash" was already explained quite well.**

**His second, Reaper's Touch is exactly what it sounds like. It weakens and drains his enemies; even kills under certain conditions. But he has to hit an enemy for it to work. And the strength Naruto drains goes right to him; though he can use it to heal as well. Its not something he wants to use on human enemies. Nor is it a guaranteed thing. Think of it as luck based. For example, Ozpin or Salem, who are absurdly strong would shrug that off. Qrow's Semblance would likely negate it entirely. ****Finally, in case anyone didn't catch it, I've been heavily hinting that some last vestiges of Kurama still linger within Naruto. Memories of his old life, bits of his old power, that sort of thing. **

**So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...**

**...Review Would You Kindly?**

**Keeps an old man alive.**

**Have a preview.**

**Hints ahoy!**

**(Preview)**

_Where where where?!_

_Emerald slammed forward the moment she hit the forest floor. She needed to move. Needed-_

_To her credit, she made nine steps before a whooping streak of silver and gold struck the ground before her like a falling comet._

_Naruto straightened in the dust, shields collapsing on themselves, having cushioned his fall. Bastard actually struck a pose, one hand poised toward the sky. "I have arrived!"_

_Emerald couldn't help herself; even as started laughing her burned from grateful tears, tears she scrubbed away before her partner could see. Because that was precisely who he was._

* * *

_"Bah! Its not like we can't handle ourselves here." Devil's Retribution smashed through an Ursa, slashed into a Beowulf and rebounded off a nearby tree to land in his waiting grasp once more. "A few Grimm? After what we've been through? Child's play. The one's in Vacuo were worse."_

_Emerald restrained a shudder. That was putting it mildly._

_A distant crunch said otherwise._

_"Huh." Naruto noted. "Somebody just died."_

_Emerald shrugged. "And nothing of value was lost."_

_With a silent fist bump, Gold and Emerald continued onward._

* * *

_Emerald swore._

_Velvet whimpered._

_Naruto sucked in a breath._

_"Why is that bastard pulling her ears?"_

_He was up and out of his seat before Coco could stop him. "Hey, wait! She can handle-_

_"I'm not going to hurt him. I'm just going to talk to that boy. Loudly. Repeatedly. With my fists."_

_Without another word the enraged blond stalked across the cafeteria, ignoring any and all attempts to call him back._

_All three women watched in quiet silence at what followed, their heads tilted near horizontal to follow each and every movement._

_Mercury sauntered over. Saw the disaster, and paused to whistle. "Damn. Didn't know you could bend the human body that way. Looks painful."_

_Coco snapped a picture. "I'll say."_

_Naruto stormed back with sound and aplomb, Velvet draped in his arms like a princess. If the__ latter made a quiet keening noise between her teeth, no one dared comment on it. No one dared look at her face either; her cheeks were just as red as her name before she buried her head in his chest._

_"Nobody messes with our bunny."_

**_NOTE: Yes, you'll get more details than this in the actual chapter._**

**R&R~!**


	3. Butting Heads

**A/N: Wow, an update on April Fools Day, AND an actual chapter!**

**READ! THIS! PLEASE! ****I know this is a long author's note, and I know many of you skip it. BUT!**

**Speaking' a' which, this is your last chance to vote with your reviews on the team composition here!**

**I dropped a lot of hints last chapter, some of which sailed right over a few heads. **

**So I'm going to clarify things here, since folks have been asking me a few questions. Hopefully this helps.**

**So once again, please, please, PLEASE read this. Or you're going to be confused when you hit the chapter. ****God, I'm so tired...**

**We've got something of an interlude here; it progresses the plot just fine, but unfortunately I've come down with something nasty and won't have a chance to update as quickly for a bit. So we've had to split the Initiation into three parts for that very reason.**

**Which works out and allows me to write the MASSIVE battle scenes for next chapter.**

** Ugh, writing while sick really took a toll on me this time around. ****I am now 90% certain I have that bloody virus, just waiting for the results to come back. ****Don't worry, I'm not gonna die. I'm quite prepared for this virus. ****I'm sorry if I've upset some people with the changes I've made, but I've said time and time again that this story is taking a different path. So with that in mind, as we did in last chapter, let's list some important points that folks have been asking about here in italicized font:**

_. Naruto and Emerald's little partnership had a ripple effect, one that we finally get to dive into within this chapter. _

_. Amber is out and about in the world, visiting Beacon on occasion. Cinder never got her. We'll see her again, though her role will be different._

_. This chapter has some surprise guests._

_. To clarify once more from last chapter! Cinder, Mercury, Illia, and Adam are all attempting to infiltrate Beacon. __Two of them want to cause havoc. Two of them are searching for someone. As to how two members of the bloody white fang haven't been noticed? Like Cinder and Mercury, the authorities don't really know what Illia looks like, much less Adam with his disguise. That, and Ozpin...really isn't the most attentive when it comes to catching criminals in his school._

_. I'm going to throw my weight behind the point that Adam can fight Cinder fairly without Maiden Powers. Without those at her back and call, she wouldn't be able to force him to her side. Adam is very much working for himself in this story. I wouldn't put it past Cinder to try something, but in a fair fight Adam could likely hold his own, if not win. __Moreso with capable fighters like Illia backing him up. On another note, Adam hasn't sustained a scar in this story. His character is...a bit more complex here._

**_. SPOILERS FOR NARUTO'S SEMBLANCE FOLLLOW! SKIP IF YOU WANT TO AVOID BEING SPOILED!_**

_Someone compared Naruto's semblance to Snatch from Seven Deadly Sins. Doh! I didn't realize I'd done that. Haven't watched SDS or read the manga in years.__ Ban doesn't need to touch anyone to swipe their strength, he has a hard upper limit, nor is he able to retain that power indefinitely, right? _

_Thankfully, I can safely say that "Reaper's Touch" is a different beast. _

_While Naruto IS forced to make some sort of physical contact with his enemy, there's no limit to what he can and can't take, but there's a risk of using it too much. He can't suck someone dry all at once. It takes time and repeated, sustained contact. __ but t__he more hits he gets in? The longer he holds on? The more strength he steals. For instance, our boy can keep and stockpile the strength his swipes and give to others, or even use it to heal. However! Should he overdose, there's a chance of him going haywire. __The human brain isn't built to take that kind of strain,__ Should he manage to kill someone with it, be it accidental or intentional..._

_...there's a chance he might steal their Semblance. Their very soul, as it were. And you wonder why he doesn't want to use it._

_That, my dear readers, is how he acquired "Flash" to begin with. He killed someone and unwittingly gained their ability. I wanted to avoid saying it, but there you are. Furthermore, if it isn't abundantly clear by now, Emerald's Semblance has been sharpened to Sharingan levels of pain. Give her enough time, and she can literally render you brain-dead. That applies to Grimm as well. Of course, using this DEVOURS hers stamina._

**And that does it for the plot points everyone's been asking about!**

**Pull up a seat, and as always, I hope ye enjoy~!**

_"You were merciful. Why?"_

_"I wouldn't call that beating merciful."_

_"He still lives. That, in itself, implies mercy."_

_"Alright, that settles it! YOU need some friends, Adam!"_

_"I have no need of such and...you're not going to let this go, are you?"_

_"Bah! I've converted my worst enemies into the best of friends. Now sit down."_

_~Adam and Naruto._

**Butting Heads**

_And so it went._

Evening came with brutal swiftness, leaving Naruto and Emerald crammed into the auditorium with the rest of the aspiring applicants as they awaited the dawn. It hadn't been quite so bad in the beginning. Sure, they were all forced to give up their weapons and store them away in lockers, but that was merely a formality for those who had come this far. Naruto wanted to hope that things would only get better; from here when you started at the bottom, there was nowhere left to go but up, right? He'd wholeheartedly believed that.

That is, until Coco hunted them down. Gods, the girl had a nose like a bloodhound!

_"Looking good, Whiskers~!"_

Naruto didn't yelp when she slapped his arse, the impact shuddering right through his black-and-orange pajamas. He absolutely did not yelp. Yelping implied weakness. Weakness meant fear. Fear lent credence to the theory that he was _afraid_ of the unholy, unfiltered, _caffeinated_ terror known as Coco Adel. Which he wasn't. Not at all. His tail -now wrapped tight around his waist to stay well out of her grasp!- did _not_ quiver with fear when she started to lay her sleeping bag next to his. Nope. Not in the least. His legs weren't shaking from fear. It was excitement. Yes. That was it. Because he was so excited to be here. Not afraid. Not at all.

Oh, who was he kidding?! The girl was voracious!

"Hey!" Emerald swooped in as he tumbled back. "Hands off!"

"Oh? You got dibs on him, Mint?" Coco planted a hand on her hip and lowered her shades. Even in pajamas, she still cut a taut figure in her nightwear; probably because she'd opted for a simple sleeveless black shirt and coffee-colored hot pants. For some reason she was still wearing that damn beret and her sunglasses. Sunglasses! At _night! _Who did that?!_ Coco did! _In her head, she'd decided that the four of them were going to be a team. Screw initiation, screw Ozpin, screw the tests. It was a done thing. No objections. They'd tried to say otherwise, but the girl simply said denied their denial.

And oh gods, she'd just given Emerald a_ nickname._

"My _name_ is Emerald." the girl's nose wrinkled in mild distaste. She didn't deny the claim.

"Yes, it is. And thy _nickname_ shall henceforth be Mint." Coco grinned, rocking back on her heels.

"Why mint?!" the dark-skinned girl flung up her arms with a startled squawk. "What about me looks _minty?!"_

The dark-haired girl tiled her head. "Well, your hair, of course. I thought it would be obvious. You alright there, Mint?"

_"Raargh!"_

Naruto nimbly plucked his partner out of the air before she could claw Coco's eyes out. Then he pulled her down into his lap in a single fluid movement. Naturally, the little hellcat fought him every step of the way; spitting and squirming and struggling for her freedom until he finally placed his hands on her shoulders and began to work his magic. Emerald's body turned to jelly beneath his palms, her anger all but forgotten as she collapsed against him. It was just a simple back rub. Nothing more, nothing less. But if there was one thing Emerald Sustrai valued in this world, it was these hands.

What was it with women and massages?

"Soooo," Coco drawled as she watched him contain Emerald, "Where are you two from?"

"Vacuo, originally." Naruto supplied the answer easily enough. There was no harm in telling her that. "We got out of there the first chance we could."

"So, Whiskers and Mint, from Vacuo." she beamed, taking a seat across from them. "Sounds like the tittle of a crime drama." She was just full of personality, this one!

"This is going to be a recurring theme with you, isn't it." Naruto fixed the brunette with a flat look over his partner's shoulders as Emerald wriggled helplessly in his grasp. "You just _have_ to give everyone nicknames."

The latter tried to speak, but her words turned to gibberish as he found a sensitive spot in her back. All that emerged was a pleased purr.

"Its the little things in life, Whiskers." Coco agreed. "Speaking of which!" She held out her arms. "Me next?"

Risking a glance for his partner, Naruto found blazing red eyes gazing back.

Nope! He very much valued his life!

...I don't think that's wise."

"Party-pooper!"

When met with Coco, Emerald's choice of sleepwear was almost...tame by comparison. She'd chosen a baggy mint-colored shirt and a loose pair of black sweats. Naruto approved of her choice. Baggy clothes helped you hide weapons for _days._ Vacuo had taught them both many a harsh lesson when they were children, but if there was one that'd stuck with them, it was thus. Always keep a weapon on you. Always. Part of the reason he'd chosen long sleeves tonight in spite of the season.

He tried not to think about what Emerald was hiding under her baggy clothes tonight. She'd crawled into his lap enough when they were little that he'd become inured to it...so long as he didn't overthink things. Anything like that and he was bound to get a knife in the groin.

No, no, this wasn't Vacuo, and they couldn't go around shanking anyone who annoyed them. Not anymore.

So when his friend made a quick slicing gesture across her throat, Naruto subtly shook his head. Rather than make the gesture again she threw her Semblance at him, leaving his ears buzzing in the form of a small voice only he could hear. It was a far cry from telepathy, but it was an excellent way of conveying messages between them.

_Can I kill her? _

He shook his head harder.

_Please? Just a little? She'll never know._

Naruto forbore the urge to groan. "And how do you plan to do that?"

"Do what?" Coco's shit-eating-grin told all, and he realized he'd spoken aloud. Ugh.

"Nothing." Naruto fought down a sigh. "You _do _realize we might not be on the same team, right? Nothing certain yet."

Once again, the brunette laughed his fears away. "Don't you worry your little ears about that, Whiskers. You're family now. Might as well accept it."

...is it too late to run away?"

"Not a chance." Emerald hissed in his ear and clamped down on him. "If I have to suffer, so do you."

Naruto grimaced as he fought down the urge to bolt. There was a certain irony to be had in all things, and tonight's suffering was no exception. By rights, he and Emerald shouldn't been here. They'd gone through hell and back to forge their paperwork, with money and dubious use of her Semblance alike. Somehow, said paperwork that had stood the test of time. Which meant it had either gone through seamlessly, or the old Headmaster hadn't bothered to glance at their papers before approving them and sending them on their way. And how likely was that? Really!

Flailing, he looked around and grasped for a new subject.

Ironically, he found it in someone's absence.

"Say, where did Velvet run off to?"

Coco blinked. "Huh. I don't-

"Please, _stop!"_

Emerald swore.

Velvet whimpered.

Naruto sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth.

At first, the trio genuinely didn't understand what they were looking at when they rounded on the sound; if only because you'd have to be an utter _fool_ to even attempt something like this. Least of all where everyone could see you. There were teachers watching. At least, there should have been. But when they turned to look, they found no one beyond aspiring hunters and huntresses, each and every one of whom were presently at the singular spectacle before them. Seven words summed it up nicely for Naruto.

"Why is that bastard pulling her ears?"

_"That_ would be Cardin Winchester." Coco sighed, planting her face in a palm with a long-suffering sigh. "Bigot, racist, and all around ass-hat supreme. He's about a year younger than us, but his pop's been a big donor to Beacon for decades now." her lip curled in a snarl as the large boy tugged harder on Velvet. "Daddy dearest probably leaned on the Headmaster to get his baby boy admitted early." she paused, as though considering an ugly thought just then. "Seems he brought some friends with him."

"Is that...allowed?"

"Offically? No. Technically? Yes." Coco rubbed her fingers together. "Money talks, whiskers. The more you have, the louder you can shout." she flicked her beret off and spun it on a finger as they looked on. "Rumor has it he wasn't the only one who got bumped up a grade this year. Rumor has it we've got a celebrity among us."

"Aren't you going to do anything to help your friend?"

"Nah." the beret flew in his face. "Bun-Bun's got this. Just you wait. She's vicious in a fight."

The pained whimper that followed sounded anything but vicious. Gods above, that sounded like it hurt.

Emerald flicked Naruto the merest of glances, her head tilting just so in the corner of his eye. Red eyes gleamed.

_Should I?_ her Semblance slipped between the two of them in a whisper only he could hear._ I could stop him if you want me to._

Naruto considered it. It would be the simplest thing for her to unleash her Semblance here; Cardin and his cronies were well within range and Emerald looked about as angry as he felt. No, worse than that. She wouldn't hold back. Hell, she'd probably scare the pants off the boy and end this without raising a fist. Velvet would surely be able to escape in the chaos that followed. It might even put a big dent in the brute's bullying...for awhile at least. But it wouldn't stop. Not for good. That said, he didn't want to reveal their trump card for something like this.

"Stoppit!" Velvet whined.

Naruto felt a muscle jump in his jaw. He knew the man's type. The moment Cardin thought he could get away with it...bam! This would start all over again with another victim, one they might not see. One they might not be able to help. Even now a sea of faces stared at the scene, but none made any move to intervene. Naruto watched some of the more notable faces in turn, waiting to see if any would act. He saw an absolute giant of a man looming by the window, a mere slip of a girl who barely came up to the latter's chest, and a sinful beauty with dark hair. Oh, some of them grimaced at the girl's plight, but no one said a word. Not a word.

_No. _in the end, he shook his head at his partner._ Let me handle it. _

Emerald tumbled out of his lap and patted his knee, freeing him to move.

"Hey, wait!" Coco grabbed at his wrist when he stood. "Velvet's tough. She can handle herself!"

"If your friend could _handle herself,"_ Naruto rounded on her with a hiss, "She would've gotten away from him by now."

"C'mon, just let him go already, will you?" Emerald stifled a yawn with the back of her hand. "No one's going to help her if we don't."

"She's right. I'm not going to hurt Cardin." the blond shook free with a growl. "I'm just going to talk to him. Alone. Loudly. Repeatedly. With my fists."

_"That's the same thing!" _Coco cried!

Naruto didn't listen to whatever else she might've said he was already away and across the room, ignoring any and all attempts to call him back. His vision tunneled as he stalked forward adrenaline keying his pulse up to a frantic pace, pulse pounding in his ears like the drums of a great hunt as he stalked toward the threat. His mind assessed the threat even as his fingernails sharpened into claws. Responding to his stress, his Semblance began to twitch. For once, he didn't stamp it down. He unleashed it, and tt surged through him like a wave of molten fire, tinging his blue eyes the faintest shade of scarlet.

For a moment, his anger began to balk. Was he going too fear? Maybe words would be enough. Maybe-

"Think the carpet matches the drapes?" Cardin crowed the words with a bawdy laugh.

"Ha!" someone sneered back. "Who knows? They all look alike, right?!"

Nope. That did it. He chose violence. Loud, angry violence.

Cardin Winchester was a big fellow. Standing a good head taller than most, well-muscled enough to fill out those hideous red pajamas he wore. He'd fought bigger, even if this one wasn't alone. At least three others -were they friends?- stood nearby the brute, each laughing with him at Velvet's plight. It made _his_ blood boil and made _them _enemies. Four against one? Naruto liked those odds. Made things even. He didn't have a plan. There was no need for one...no. Wait. He told a lie. He did have a plan. _Rip and tear._

Velvet saw him coming with wide eyes, her head still jerked painfully aside. Her ears perked in Cardin's grasp.

Silent steps carried Naruto the last few feet, as his right arm arced upward...

"Would you care to repeat that, you son of a bitch?"

...and clamped down on Cardin's right shoulder.

It took but a second to lay a mark there.

Then he squeezed. _Hard._

Physical contact was all but required for Reaper's Touch to take hold on someone, just so for Flash. Be a punch, or a simple grab, so long as Naruto got ahold of someone with his hands and _held on,_ they were his. It was like drinking a glass of water spiked with caffeine. You could take a sip, or drink the whole thing. Whatever he took became his, energy to be burned at his leisure. He could even wield his Semblance in reverse and bleed the energy he stockpiled right back into a victim to heal them. Left alone, it was a subtle, insidious Semblance, like taking tiny drops from a puddle. But Cardin wasn't a puddle. He was a lake, and an aspiring huntsman at that. As such, he had energy to burn. Naruto didn't hold back, and the boy's face went ashen.

"Hey!" Cardin flailed at him. "Let go of me!"

Three seconds.

It took Cardin precisely that amount of time to bat his hand away and stumble to safety. More than enough. By then Naruto had all he needed and more. He'd already marked him. He couldn't simply knock this kid out in front of everyone, cathartic as that might be. No. That wouldn't do, not at all. An example must be made. In Vacuo, the strong thrived and the weak died. Just the thought made his ears twitch.

_Lets see how Cardin liked being the weakling for a change._

"Russell, Dove, Sky!" Perhaps realizing his peril, the brute jerked Velvet back as his friends -more of a posse, really- came to his aid. "Get a load of this! Another freak!" when she tried to lash out at him he only pulled all the harder, drawing an angry hiss from the brunette. "First a rabbit, not a fox! They're crawling out of the woodwork today!"

_Showoff._ Emerald's semblance-enhanced voice buzzed in his head.

Naruto shrugged in a way that would made Mercury proud.

Sure enough, Cardin's boys crowded around him. One with blue hair, the other a plain bowl cut, and a third with a green _mohawk_ of all things. He didn't bother to remember their names. They didn't matter, nor did their mob mentality. It was almost, sad really. Nobody cared if you were a Faunus in Vacuo. If you could survive, you were welcome. Times like these almost made the White Fang seem like the...oh. Wait, they were talking to him, weren't they? He'd all but tuned them out.

"Nice tail, blondie." Mohawk jeered and prodded his cheek.

Naruto twitched. _Must. Not. Kill...Not even a little...!_

"Aw, did the fox come to save the rabbit?" Dove tugged at his ear.

"Heh. Maybe he wants to eat her." Sky's was the worse by far. Beyond compare.

Velvet kicked out at them.

_"Just let go!"_

...really?" Naruto felt his mouth twitch into a smile. It wasn't a pleasant one. _"Really?_ We're using _those_ cliched lines now?"

Then he flickered.

Cardin never saw him coming.

He wasn't even aware of the mark Naruto had left on his shoulder until the blond barreled into him from above.

With his left hand the blond lashed out and brought five taut fingers down on the wrist holding Velvet captive; a brief targeted touch that caused the muscles there to spasm in a moment of weakness. Cardin jerked around and swiped at him with his free hand, but rather than waste the energies he'd acquired for himself, Naruto stepped into the larger boy's guard and thrust an open palm beneath the bully's chin. Cardin's head snapped back with an audible grunt. Stunned by the blow and unable to maintain his fist, much less his footing, the boy finally lost his ironclad grip on Velvet's ears. Mission accomplished! With that, he no longer need hold back. A right hook crashed into the callous boy's chin and sent him tumbling backwards into his friends like a bowling ball.

Somewhere behind him, Naruto heard Coco's scroll click as it took a picture. _"Striiiiiiiike!"_

It almost made him smile...until he realized Cardin's captive hadn't budged an inch.

"Velvet, what are you doing?! Move!"

When she didn't react to his words he swept his right arm out and grabbed his fellow Faunus by the waist, hauling her behind him. _That _snapped her out of it. The brunette didn't so much dart as she did _tumble_ behind his back. He felt firm fingers dig into his skin as she latched onto him, followed by the faintest weight as her chin came to rest on his shoulder and her arms wrapped around his chest. For a fleeting instant, her hair tickled his nose and he balked at her. She wasn't...no, she actually _was_ using him as a human shield while she clung to him like some silly monkey. Oh gods. Why were her pajamas so thin?!

"Th-Thanks...

"Don't thank me," Naruto hissed. "Why didn't you fight back?"

Her ears drooped as she turned her head away. "I didn't want to cause a scene...

Movement danced in the corner of his vision. "They're getting up. Let me handle this."

Reluctantly, the rabbit did as she was bade and disengaged a few paces.

_"You little shit!"_

Cardin might have said something else as he clamored upright. His mouth certainly moved. Naruto didn't listen, trusting to his instincts. Sure enough, the boy gave into his anger and rushed him like a bull. Sloppy. It took the work of an instant to duck a wild haymaker, slip into his guard, and sweep his legs. Cardin toppled like a tree. One of his allies -the Mohawk fellow- tried to flank him and received a bitter backhand for his efforts. Why did he think that would work?! He was standing right there! Didn't they have any semblance of strategy-

_On your left._ Emerald's semblance buzzed in his ear.

Sure enough, someone grabbed his tail. Naruto blew out a sigh. "Really?"

"Not so tough now, are ya?!"

He drove a vicious mule-kick into their groin without looking so much as looking backward. Whomever it was -Sky, perhaps?- released him and toppled to the floor with a pitiful croak. Three down. One to go. He found the final one trying to help Cardin up. Fair enough. Time to wrap this up. Surely one of the teachers must have noticed the commotion by now. If they hadn't, they weren't doing a very good job. If Cardin was foolish enough to pick a fight after all that...he'd get every bit of what was coming to him.

Clearing his throat, Naruto coughed but once.

"I'll say this one time. Cut the bullying." he spoke clearly and calmly, raising his voice to be heard as he approached his fellow applicant and his fallen friends. "Do that and I'll pretend this never happened." Bit of a white lie that one, but Cardin didn't need to know what he was in for later. "This doesn't need to escalate any further. Lets have bygones be bygones."

He offered his hand in friendship.

Cardin Winchester spat right in his face.

Naruto twitched. "Right then. You had you chance."

Coco, Emerald and Velvet watched in quiet silence at what followed, their heads tilted near horizontal to follow each and every movement.

Mercury sauntered over, saw the disaster, and paused to whistle softly. "Damn. Didn't know you could bend the human body that way. Looks painful."

Coco snapped another picture. "I'll say."

Naruto stormed back with sound and aplomb, Velvet cradled in his arms like a princess of yore. If the latter made a quiet keening noise between her teeth no one dared comment on it. If she looked absolutely fit to burst from embarrassment, they didn't dare speak of it. They didn't look at her face either; her cheeks were just as red as her name before she buried her head in his chest.

"Nobody messes with our bunny."

He'd only just set her down when Cardin called out to him. "You're the one who escalated things, freak! We didn't do anything wrong!"

"Is that so?" Naruto stood and tilted his head as Coco wrapped her arms around Velvet with a dark glower. _"You_ started this when you started harassing _my_ friend."

Velvet perked up imperceptibly, ears standing at attention, bright eyes flitting back and forth. "Friend?"

"She was asking for it!" Cardin shot back. "That damn bunny _bitch_ didn't know her place!"

The entire auditorium inhaled sharply.

In hindsight, Naruto really shouldn't have risen to the bait; he knew it was a bad idea from the start. He _knew _Cardin was just being a bigot, just trying to goad him into a fight. He should have taken the high road like a sensible person. Let the words roll right off his back. But the moment that brute opened his mouth, the moment he said those words...something snapped. He'd given him an out. A chance to back down and save face, to make amends and improve himself as a person. And what had he done? Well. They'd all heard it. What he'd called poor, sweet, innocent Velvet.

_"Oh?"_ Naruto ground the words out as he stalked forward. "Do my ears deceive me? You must have a deathwish."

"Why, I think he does!" Coco was only half a heartbeat behind him. "I call dibs on the ugly one."

"They're _all_ ugly." Emerald reluctantly followed. "Idiots, both of you...huh? Velvet?"

Could a sleeping bag make a cracking sound? _Hers_ just had.

_"Somebody get a shovel."_

"You wanna throw down? Fine with us." Cardin started forward with a glower, his friends behind him. "We're ready for round two. There's four of us and three one of you. Bunny bitch over there doesn't count."

Velvet absolutely _hissed,_ all traces of hesitation gone. "You no good SLEAZY-

Unfortunately, before Cardin could comprehend his imminent body peril courtesy of one _very _angry bunny girl, a heavy pillow sailed across over her shoulder. It was a good shot. One through with the utmost accuracy and grace. Raw speed and power personified. It struck him dead in the groin. All present parties blinked as his eyes crossed and his body bent double with a wheeze of a whimper. Nearly every boy -and more than a few girls- collectively winced at the withering wheeze that fled from his lips. Cardin Winchester did not squeak. No. Certainly not.

He _definitely_ didn't crumple in on himself and cry for his mother. Everyone must have imagined it.

Thus did the heroic sacrifice a lone pillow bring an end to what had been shaping up to be a vicious brawl.

Coco hadn't throw it.

Emerald certainly didn't.

Velvet blinked, ears drooping.

Naruto..._Naruto_ looked over his shoulder.

"Well." he coughed. "Didn't see that one coming."

Everyone followed his gaze; soon enough all eyes turned toward the perpetrator.

At a glance, she looked to be an awkward little thing wrapped in a bronze pair of pajamas, still gangly and growing into her full height. Her arm even now still overextended from what might as well have been a full body javelin toss for all the force behind it. She'd thrown the entirety of her tiny frame into that single motion. Scarlet hair framed a pale face from which eyes of pure jade shone, her eyes even now widened with mortification as she realized what she'd gone.

"I'm sorry!" she wailed, hands flying to her face. "He was just being so rude...and...I well...

"Ah, shit." Sky coughed, his face gone pale. "Is that freaking Pyrrha Nikos-GACK?!"

Velvet whipped a pillow into his face, sending him sprawling.

That drew everyone's attention to Cardin's _remaining_ allies, suddenly far fewer in number and without their leader. Both boys were left quite...vulnerable, just standing there. One of them made the rookie mistake of trying to retreat. He stepped backward. Just an inch. It was like blood in the water, and everyone else were the sharks. All eyes cut toward them. Someone began to chuckle.

"What did you boys call that sweet girl?" a voice like sin purred. "Bitch, I believe it was?"

Naruto felt the beginnings of a smile curl at the corner of his mouth as he looked toward the speaker. "Bunny bitch, _that_ was the phrase."

She smiled sensually at him, and a shiver shot up his spine as she stepped forward. Gods, that gown was...red. "Ah, yes. That was what they said. Quite rude, don't you think?"

Wow, was it hot in here or something? Still, they were in agreement on that at least.

When that gorgeous woman with her dark, dark hair and burning amber eyes hefted a pillow of her own, it triggered an avalanche in the auditorium. Dozens of hands suddenly swooped down, snatching up sleeping bags, pillows, any thing that came easily to hand. Just like that Russel and Dove's measured retreat turned into a full on rout. Alas, there was nowhere for them to run. The doors were quite locked you see, and for some _mysterious reason, _their chaperone had yet to make an appearance. In the end, both boys were left flattened against the wall to await their fate. They had Aura unloced. They might survive. _Might._

"TO WAR!" Coco cried!

"Mercy?" one of hapless mooks gulped.

Naruto and Emerald exchanged a black look. "Nope."

And with that, all the pillows descended with singular fluffy fury.

Of course, that just left all the applicants to turn their pillows upon one another.

Truly, it was a battle for the ages! The Great Pillow Fight Night would be a night not soon forgot!

But of course, the first rule of Pillow Fight Night goes without saying. You don't talk about Pillow Fight Night.

**A/N: Right, then.**

**Hope this made you smile.**

**This is your last chance to vote with your reviews on the team composition here! Trust me on this.**

***Grins***

**I imagine you have questions.**

** RWBY had a food fight, as we all know...**

**...and here we have a somewhat deadly pillow brawl.**

**Also, lo and behold! Little!Pyrrha makes her debut! Ain't she cute~?**

**Its all but been said that she took the opportunity to come to Beacon a year early. Sort of like what Ruby did. To top it off, now**** we've got the boys of Team CRDL a year early at that thanks to the meddling of Cardin's fother. Don't worry, we have plans for them too. ****This story is meant to make you laugh, make you cry, make you feel all sorts of emotions.**

**As ever, lack of reviews murder my inspiration. If folks don't review, I tend to think they don't like a story, you know?**

**This chapter was a blast to write and I hope I can bring more to you all; the reviews from last chapter really motivated me and helped me to lay the groundwork for the chaos to come. Naruto, even reincarnated, is still Naruto. He's gonna do his damndest to make friends with nearly everyone he can...with very few exceptions. **

**I can't overstate this enough; Naruto and Emerald aren't the heroes of this tale. They're not even villains, but somewhere between the two. They're not the sort to murder in cold blood, but they're not above bloody retribution if someone hurts their friends. Coco might have come across a little brash in this chapter, but have you SEEN her personality in the show? Of course she's going to speak her mind when it suits her and woe to ye if you get in her way.**

**Velvet just needs to come out of her shell. She'll be fine.**

**So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...**

**...Review Would You Kindly?**

**Keeps an old man alive.**

**Have a preview.**

**Hints ahoy!**

**(Preview)**

_"Ohohoho~?"_

_"I'm up!" Naruto bolted upright at the first nudge, but it was already too late. Coco's smile said it all. For once, he hadn't dreamed of that damn fox. Was that a good thing? He wasn't certain it was. He soon saw why just about everyone in the auditorium was staring at them._

_...why are you in my sleeping bag?"_

_Emerald tucked her head into his arm. "Had a nightmare."_

_Oh. He didn't ask further. "You do realize everyone is staring at us...?"_

_"Don't care." she yawned and buried her head further into his chest. "Sleepy..._

* * *

_"DIBS!"_

_The little redhead squeaked. "What?!"_

_"I've decided. You're just too precious, so me and Em are claiming you. You're stuck with us now."_

* * *

_...teach me, please! I'm begging you!"_

_Naruto's jaw clicked open. "Cardin say what now?"_

* * *

_Adam gazed at the hand, half expecting it to bite. __"You can't be serious."_

_Naruto beamed. __"Sure am! You said you were looking for someone, right? I'd like to help."_

_"Might as well give up." Emerald called from across lockers. "There's no shaking him when he like this."_

_"Ohhh, I can think of one thing I'd like to see him shake-_

_"COCO!"_

* * *

_"Drink *hic* up! We're celebrating!"_

_Naruto eyed the bottle like a wild Beowolf._

_"Em, you're drunk. Where did you even find alcohol?!"_

_Coco cackled in the background. Of course. Some team leader she was!_

* * *

_"Nice?" __Coco turned her head as __she guffawed, causing Mercury flinched at the sharp bark of laughter. "Naruto isn't nice. He tolerates people sure. Even stands up for them. But there's a line you don't cross. And you? You're stomping all over it." She flicked her shades back up again, and those cold eyes were hidden by her glasses once more. "Take my advice, hot cheeks. Don't piss Whiskers off. He'll kill you."_

* * *

_"We need not be enemies." Cinder hummed softly, laying a palm against his cheek. "I can be a very good friend, Naruto. Your skills could be useful."_

* * *

_"Stay down."_

_...no...not...again. NEVER AGAIN!"_

_"What in the...are you insane?! How are you still moving?!"_

_"Because there's no one else! Because I have to push forward!" Naruto jolted to the right and a flickering fist thundered into the side of the brute's head to send him spinning away. "Even if my body breaks!" his enemy's weapon slashed down and bounced off a shield. "Push forward!" he cartwheeled out of the way and swept their legs. "Even if my soul shatters!" Large arms crashed down on either side of his end, but the blond staggered and surged onward regardless. "PUSH FORWARD!"_

_ His hand snaked out to seized his foe by the face, slamming him into the ground._

_ "I won't lose to anyone! NEVER AGAIN!"_

**R&R~!**


	4. Landing Strategy

**A/N: Trolls and threats all over the reviews yet again. Yeesh. Hope folks like this, I worked really hard on it. Uuuuugh, long chapters wear me out something fierce~! ****Still not feeling well and this took so many wooooords...**

***melts into a puddle***

**EDIT: Went back and changed the chapter titles. They felt too impersonal.**

** Long author's note here, for which I apologize. There are things that need to be said here. ****There's a few scene breaks as well, and I'm sorry for that as well, but given the nature of Initiation, its something of a necessary evil. Now, then:**

_**PLEASE READ THIS NOTE, WOULD YOU KINDLY?**_

**We've got a twist here and I am...somewhat afraid of everyone's reactions. The death threats have escalated to almost daily attacks now and I'm terrified that this will make it worse, but this part of the plot was the plan from the beginning. I'm not one who enjoys airing personal matters on this site but there you have it. I'm doing my best to keep each story unique and different from the others but I can only improve if I hear from you, the readers. ****That's the long and short of it I suppose.**

**Remember, this story isn't solely about Naruto and Emerald, but everyone. We're a year out from canon here, but events are radically different.**

**For some reason it feels like this story's gotten less love than the others; and death threats at that. Perhaps its because I'm taking things in a different direction; whether they know it or not, Naruto and Emerald HAVE changed events drastically; its created something of a drastic ripple effect. So I'm going to list the known changes one last time, starting from the beginning. I know many of you are aware of them and the chapters have explained as much, but I'm getting too many threats over this. Sorry. I HATE long author's notes as much as you do so I'll keep this short:**

_**.** A reincarnated Naruto met Emerald as a child and together, they went their own way in life. Naturally, their actions produced ripples across the whole of Remnant, many of which we haven't seen._

_**.** As a direct result of this, Cinder was unable to acquire Emerald, and thus, unable to strike down Amber. She was, however, able to recruit Mercury._

_**.** Lacking the Maiden Powers, Cinder was UNABLE to threaten Adam, indeed, she didn't even think to do so given her lack of forces. This in turn freed up Adam to move as he wished and pursue Blake who in turn did something incredibly foolish. Adam, in turn, did something even more boneheaded. I won't say what here. That'd be telling._

_**.** Ozpin's more active in his machinations, trying his best to muster the next generation against Salem._

_**.** Pyrrha came to Beacon a year early to get away from her fame and all the pain it brought her. Ozpin made her an offer. She jumped. I'm sure all know how keen he is to headhunt talent and without the matter of the Fall Maiden to focus on, it stands to reason he'd be actively recruiting who he can, where he can, whenever he can._

_**.** Cardin's father used his connections to get Cardin and his gang into Beacon early. That was a foolish, pigheaded decision. Ozpin allowed it._

**I won't say anymore here for fear of spoiling things Still, it seems ****Little!Pyrrha was a hit with everyone, though she's only a year younger than her canon self. Who woulda thought she'd be such a hit? ****Here we go! Votes have been tallied! Reviews have been counted! Aaaaand the teams have been chosen! ****Remember, this is our boy reincarnated. His memories may come back, and we've obviously seen Kurama isn't as dead as we thought him to be. Oho, poor ****Remnant's not gonna have the best time of things if he wakes up.**

**Minor verbatim for the Initiation here. ****So in lieu of a longer author's note...**_**readysetgo!**_

_"This feels familiar. Like I've seen this before...lived it before..._

_"Are you alright? Is it the headaches again? Should I tell the teachers?"_

_"Nah, its nothing. I'll be fine. Its just a migraine. It'll pass. Always has. Always will."_

_~Naruto and Emerald._

**Landing Strategy**

_Ozma considered himself a man of tact._

Perhaps that was arrogant of him, for tact implied adroitness or sensitivity in dealing with others and their issues. These days, he wasn't sure he held the capacity for it, not as he once did. Even after all these years, some small part of him still quailed at the idea of sending children to fight monsters. Even if they were heavily armed, absurdly strong teenagers with years of training, the act itself simply didn't sit well with his soul. Beacon had housed countless students before them -and likely would for generations to come!- but it was always here, on the morning of Initiation that he felt his resolve waver.

Ozma, or Ozpin as he'd come to be known in this life, was not an evil man. But felt he couldn't be called good either. Not anymore.

What manner of man sent others to die for him? A coward.

He'd been called far worse slurs over countless lifetimes; liar, deceiver, traitor, oath-breaker, and of course, murderer. His hands were drenched with blood, both of the lives he'd taken, and those he'd sent to their deaths, knowing or otherwise. He still heard their voices sometimes, in his darkest moments._ Damn you. How could you? They trusted you!_ There were so many. So very many now. He couldn't even remember all their faces, but the insults that followed, the slurs their loved ones hurled at him when he inevitably informed them of their demise...those were never far from his thoughts.

Men, women and children alike. They all died while he lived on, again and again.

So he bore each condemnation a heavy heart, knowing it to be true as the blue sky above. They'd been right, of course. He was all these things and more; he'd committed terrible atrocities in the name of peace and would commit more still if it kept the world of Remnant safe from _her. _He did what he did for the greater good. He fought for the greater good. He kept his secrets for the greater good. Always, the greater good.

Today would no different, and so it was with a fresh cup of coffee that he awaited the students on the cliffs.

Below him the Emerald forest -he was sure one of the applicants found some irony there, given her name- awaited the rising sun, still and silent as the grave. Ozma knew it was not so; already Grimm below grew restless and impatient; they knew what was to come today, as it came every year. Even now the soon-to-be students would be rising in the auditorium. Soon they would wake, dress themselves, find their breakfast, secure their gear and march toward their destiny. They had a talented crop this year, more than he'd expected. They were certainly a...diverse lot, if nothing else.

"You've made a number of exceptions this year, sir."

Ah, and there was Glynda arriving now, punctual as ever. Truly, this woman was an absolute marvel; would that he'd discovered her an age ago. He could've used someone like her in some of his earlier campaigns against Salem. Here was a bastion of order, someone who brooked no nonsense under her watch. By the Brothers, he didn't know how he got anything done without her these days. Unfortunately, that sword was something of a double-edged blade; in that it could cut both ways. Sometimes she deemed his designs...questionable. No doubt she thought this one of them.

"Have I?" the headmaster took a long sip from his mug. "I wasn't aware of such."

_"Ozpin."_

"And which exceptions might those be?" he mused, pointedly ignoring her glower against his back as he gazed down into the forest proper below. "We have a number of notable students this year. I'm sure they'll become fine huntsmen and huntresses by the time they graduate-

He barely batted an eyelash when the disciplinarian thrust a Scroll against his face.

"Ah, yes." this time he couldn't quite hide his the smile against the images that stared back at them. "Our little thieves from Vacuo. What of them?"

"You're aware their transcripts are forged." it wasn't a question. More an accusation than anything else. He didn't have to answer; because she already knew the answer.

Of course he was aware of them. He'd personally signed off on the papers himself when they crossed desk. These two were clever to be sure; no one could _prove_ they'd committed those crimes and they'd been careful to disguise themselves each time. Anyone else would have failed to find the clues they left behind. They'd hit Vacuo, Mistral, even Atlas, but not Vale. Never Vale. Despite their notoriety they weren't wanted in this kingdom _yet,_ which meant there must be something they _wanted _here. Badly. Very badly indeed. He hadn't been surprised to see their papers on his desk.

"Naturally." What was the saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? He felt that applied well here. "

"You allowed this?!" the blond rounded on him, incredulous. "Ozpin, they're criminals!"

"I did, and they are." the immortal squared his shoulders, knowing what was to come, this wasn't the first time Glynda had challenged his decisions and it certainly wouldn't be the last. "What of it?" he turned to face her fully, his smile slipping into a frown. "Make no mistake, I'm sure James would love to have a word with them, but for all their dastardly deeds, these "criminals" have yet to so much as harm a civilian; I dare say they've gone out of their way to avoid it thus far."

Oho, there it was. The_ look._ He knew what was coming next. "That doesn't changed the fact that they committed crimes-

"And yet they applied to our school knowing _full well_ we might ascertain their identities." Ozpin interjected, leaning upon his cane. "Does that not signify a desire to atone for their mistakes?"

Perhaps that was something of a white lie on his part; those two had likely expected their forgeries to hold up in the face of any real scrutiny. For the most part they had. They simply hadn't expected a Wizard. Of course he wasn't about to admit that to Glynda. Doing so would give his old friend a foothold as well as a chance to force his hand. And if they were forced out, Salem may well snatch them up. That couldn't be allowed; not with skills and Semblances like those. If they let go of them now, he was certain they'd never be seen again. Beacon _needed_ that kind of strength, and his words were enough to allay Glynda's fears, though she didn't much like it.

Indeed, she looked like she'd bitten into a particularly sour on a lemon. "I...suppose."

Glynda was also many things, but at the end of the day she was naive. She believed in black and white. Good and Evil. When in reality the truth was more often...grey. Ozpin's life was drenched in grey. Morally ambiguous decisions abounded in his storied lifetimes, none done with any true malice or spite, but once again, for hope of a better tomorrow.

"Then all's well that ends well." he patted her shoulder. "Was there anything else you wanted to ask?"

"As a matter of fact, yes?" what of miss Nikos?" Glynda shook him off as her riding crop slapped into the palm of her hand with an audible smack, further heralding her agitation. "Or Winchester and his little gang? Adam Taurus. Illia Amitola. Not to mention those two unknowns Lionheart recommended us, to say nothing of the other applicants." she paused, pinching the brow of her nose before continuing. "What were you thinking?! These children aren't heroes, Ozpin. They cannot possibly be expected to fight for one another, much less the greater good!"

Ozpin raised his mug to his lips once more, but the brew tasted sour.

_And what would you know of that, my dear?_

A stray thorn of guilt pricked at the old sage's heart, but he pushed past it. Of course Adam and Illia were well known to him; they'd been the ones to approach him in the first place. They were hunting someone, and they had full reason to believe said someone was hiding among the new students here in Beacon. She was, of course, but he wasn't about to reveal that. Moreover, he would have been a fool to turn them away. This way, the White Fang lost two of its most powerful members and Beacon gained the good press of trying to "convert" them both. Once more, it kept two potential pawns from Salem's grasp.

And if they did turn violent...if either made a move against his students...he would not hesitate to cut them down.

Miss Nikos was something of an unintended coup on his part; he honestly hadn't expected her to accept his offer to attend Beacon a year early, but accept she had. Cardin had been another unexpected boon, albeit less of an appealing one. His father had proven rather insistent on getting him admitted this year, and then the boy had dragged his friends along for the ride. Judging by last night's fiasco those four were going to be something of a problem. Time would tell if they were ready.

Still, Glynda was awaiting his response and so, taking a deep breath, he schooled his face into a small smile. Time to play the fool once more.

"You're forgetting the Belladona girl." he teased her gently.

"Oh, how silly of me!" her voice cracked like a whip and her hands shot up in exasperation. "Why else would two members of the WHITE FANG be looking for her?!"

"Who am I to refuse those who seek a second chance?"

"Ozpin, stop being a fool about this!" Glynda absolutely clenched her weapon. How odd. Riling her up usually worked. Instead she'd turned the tables on him. Quaint. Was this what anger felt like? Frustration? He'd all but forgotten the feeling. It almost made him feel human again.

"I seem to recall a young girl who once lost her way," when next he spoke, the sage's voice held an unmistakable edge that hadn't been there before, one he felt for the first time in centuries. "When everyone else gave up on her, I believed in her; helped her find way back from what she'd become. I wonder what she would have to say about this."

Glynda went terribly still.

"We need Hunters, Glynda." he tapped his cane once against the brittle earth for emphasis, earning a finch from the normally taciturn woman. "More than that, we need _Warriors_ and we need to train them with what little time we have left. The Grimm have begun to move. Salem won't be idle much longer; we'll never have a chance like this again. My decision is final. Everyone on that list has earned their right to be here."

"I...understand." she muttered, holding her arm and glancing away.

"And I apologize for my slip." he touched her hand. "Rest assured, I'll be taking every precaution."

She was right to be worried, of course. He was taking an incredible risk with this generation. A band of misfits and criminals, outcasts and runaways, nearly all of them.

Ozpin had made due with worse than this in his heyday. Far worse. Team STRQ stood as a testament to that. He would do what he must, as he'd always done before. He made the hard choices that no one else would; because there was no victory without sacrifice nor sacrifice without victory. Sometimes one man had to die so the many might live. Sometimes there was no happy ending. It had to be him. Someone else might have gotten it wrong. Some of them would live. Others would die. Some always did, despite his best efforts to prevent it. May the gods forgive him for what he was about to do...

_...because he certainly wouldn't be forgiving himself anytime soon._

* * *

_(.0.0.0.)_

* * *

_Nope._

That was Naruto's first thought as reality reluctantly swam back to him. Naturally his first instinct was to roll over in his sleeping bag and tell morning to bugger right off. Squeezing his eye shut against the sunlight, he did his best to ignore the clamor around him. Even now he could hear others rising around him, discern the odd hushed voice or two. Someone called his name and he hissed out a curse, clutched his pillow tighter and tried to resist the impulse to murder them. For once, he hadn't dreamed of that damn fox. Was that a good thing? He wasn't certain it was. Because in the absence of said fox he'd slept sound. Perhaps too soundly at that.

So...nope. Nope, nope, nope with a heaping helping of nope. He gripped his pillow and rolled over.

Rather, he tried, until someone grumbled in his ear. "Stop moving, will ya...?"

_Wait. Pillows didn't talk._

_"Ohohoho~?"_

"I'm up!" Realization dawned and Naruto bolted upright at the next nudge, but it was already too late to save himself. Coco's smile was the first thing he saw and it spoke volumes. It certainly didn't help that just about everyone in the auditorium was staring at them. A soft moan in his ear he sealed his fate completely. He made the mistake of inhaling and the scent of a familiar shampoo flooded his nose.

Then he looked down and _saw._

Emerald made a quiet sound of contentment and snuggled deeper into his arms, wrapping her own around his back as she spooned against him. Naruto wasn't fooled for a moment and only stiffened as he felt tan fingers pinch his hip. A pair of hooded red eyes peeked up at him through mint green hair when he looked down, still bleary from sleep. For a fleeting moment he thought he glimpsed the ghost of a grin on her lips before it vanished and she nuzzled against his throat, kissing his neck. Everyone gasped above them and he felt a familiar heat shoot through him. Was this revenge for Coco's antics? It felt like revenge.

Naruto absolutely twitched. _Little minx!_

...why are you in my sleeping bag?" he hissed.

Emerald tucked her head into his arm. "Had a nightmare."

Oh. He didn't pry further. "You do realize everyone is staring at us...?"

"Don't care." she yawned and buried her head further into his chest. "Sleepy...

She tried to burrow into his chest like a groundhog and well would have if he didn't pinch her cheek. The growl that followed was adorable. Emerald would've stabbed him if he spoke of it. She didn't throw her Semblance at him; she launched it like a ballistic missile. Naruto ignored the haunting image of snakes sprouting from her hair and pinched her cheek in retaliation.

"We're gonna be late if you don't get up," he warned.

She snorted softly. "Nope. Comfy."

Blue eyes bulged. _"Emerald."_

Coco all but howled with laughter, physically doubling over as her bright eyes squinted behind her shades. In the end it took the combined efforts of her,Velvet, _and _another student to pry Emerald loose and allow Naruto to stand. Even then, it was only a momentary thing and Emerald swore like a sailor the entire time they were apart.

"Breakfast?" Coco offered.

_"Breakfast."_ Naruto seconded with a sigh.

"Breakfast _does_ sound nice." Velvet offered softly.

Emerald latched onto Naruto's back like a limpet. "Carry _meee..._

The brunette arched an eyebrow. "She's not a morning person, is she?"

"You have no idea." Naruto blew out a breath and complied with a groan. "C'mon...and don't bite my neck! I ain't food!"

* * *

_(.0.0.0.)_

* * *

Breakfast in Beacon was a violent, torrid affair. At least, Naruto certainly thought so.

A veritable horde of aspiring applicants descended upon the cafeteria in a single wave, united in their singular haste to scarf down a meal before initiation began. The poor kitchen staff never stood a chance; indeed, even trained though they were, they were swamped nonetheless. The strong elbowed their way to the front first, while the weaker students were forced to the back of the line to wait their turn. Metal trays sailed to and fro like metal frisbees, flung with sharp insults and an almost vindictive glee.

_"Life is war and breakfast is but the first of many battlefields."_ Their mentor had once said. _"He who strikes first, gets to eat. He who hesitates? Well. He goes hungry."_

To this day, they'd never gotten the bastard's name. He'd been a dark-haired man with darker eyes, a creature of strange sayings and odd looks; one who took them into his home for a short time and in turn helped them hone their skills to a razors edge. They'd woke one morning to find him gone, a heavy pouch of lien left in his place, and hadn't seen him since. In a way they were grateful to him; his absence had spurred the two of them to leave Vacuo behind and make a name for themselves. Thad had been...what, years ago now? Why was he thinking about that here?

"Hey, you stopped." Emerald prodded Naruto's shoulder with her chin, drawing him out of his reverie. "What's wrong."

"Eh, its nothing." he muttered, shaking his head. "Just a memory. That aside...

She looked past him and saw the mob. "Yeah. That's a problem."

Now, looking out upon this wild sea of teenagers, Naruto and Emerald found themselves in complete agreement as they watched the sea of hungry people surge back and forth across the room in an angry tide. It was like watching some beautiful yet terrible disaster unfold before your very eyes; you wanted to look away, but you couldn't.

"Can you get off now?" Naruto sighed. Emerald immediately bit his ear for his temerity. _Hard._ "Yow! Not the ears! What did I do this time?!"

"You were rude." his partner retorted, sliding off his back with a dancer's grace. "C'mon, "she cracked her knuckles. "Let's show them how Vacuo rocks it."

"Took the words right out of my mouth." he hummed.

With a grin, they dove in.

A liberal application of elbows and knees and arms alike earned the former thieves a place in the horde, from which they snatched a heaping helping of pancakes, bacon and eggs. Emerald even managed to wrangle two cups of coffee for them, though Naruto suspected it had more to do with her sticky fingers than any actual use of her Semblance. He'd used his sparingly to shunt their adversaries aside, always quick to return what little energy he'd taken from his fellow students.

With their prizes firmly in hand, the unlikely duo stole an empty table for themselves and proceeded to dig in. Naruto claimed the middle-most space, and Emerald immediately took up residence on his left.

"Ahhh, breakfast." she purred, drizzling syrup over her pancakes. "Nothing like it."

"What is it with you and pancakes?"

Red eyes narrowed. "Says the guy drown his eggs in ketchup."

That should have been the end of things; even now everyone was off forming their little groups and cliques, congregating in the hopes of finding themselves a teammate in the trials to come. Naruto spied a bruised Cardin across the way and briefly considered whipping an apple at his head. In the end, he thought better of it. He wasn't worth the effort. If he went after Velvet's ears again all bets were off. A pillow would be the least of his worries if he tried to harass that poor girl.

Sure enough, the larger boy noticed him and flipped him off. Naruto flashed him a predatory grin and the brute went bone white.

"Somebody's feeling protective." Emerald prodded his cheek with a fork while he was distracted. "Looking for your bunny?"

"Nah." he looked back her with a grin before she could get angry. "Just contemplating murder."

"Cardin being a dick again?" she tilted her head, following his gaze.

"There's an idea! Maybe I should neuter him...

His partner snorted at his sarcasm and flicked a piece of bacon at him. Naruto caught it between her teeth, grinned, and launched a pancake back. Emerald snagged it with her fork and tore a great heaping chunk out of it, then flushed as she realized what her actions might have implied. He used the opportunity to toss another bacon shuriken at her. This one stuck to her cheek.

"Gods, you can be such a child." she still peeled it off her face and ate it.

"Like you're any better." He stuck his tongue out at her.

All things considered Naruto found himself mildly surprised by the attention they received. Apparently their actions last night had made something of a name for himself; his sensitive ears heard their names mentioned far more than once, while he caught more than a few folks staring when they thought he wasn't looking.

"Oh?" Coco's voice breathed in his ear. "Found prince charming, have we?"

Naruto nearly jolted a foot in the air and only narrowly mastered himself. "Bite me, beret."

"Ha! He's got teeth!" She laughed and slid her tray into the empty space on his right as though it'd always been there. Velvet crept in behind on the brunette's right a moment later, ears drooping. Poor bunny still wouldn't look him in the eye; if anything she steadfastly kept her gaze on his chest. Had he done something wrong?

"So what's the plan, partner?" His fellow freshman asked.

Emerald bared her teeth. "He's not _your_ partner."

"Eh? Whuzzat now? Em! Stoppit! " Naruto whipped his head back to Coco and yanked the illusionist down into his lap the same moment; his actions mollified Emerald enough that she released the knife she'd been holding with a huff. "I'm not your partner. Why call me that?"

Once more, Coco's grin spoke volumes where her words did not.

"Well the way I see it," she leaned forward, swallowing a hasty bite of a donut as she did, "Either you or I are gonna be in charge when we get put on a team-

_"Making a lot of assumptions there..._

-and Mint over there strikes me as more a follower than a leader," the brunette continued without missing a single beat, "Velvet's a good gal and all, but she's got confidence issues. Still working on that. No offense, Bun-Bun." she idly reached around to hug the Faunus by her waist before barreling onward, "Look, I'd be fine with either of us being in charge really, but I don't wanna step on your toes. So!" she clapped her hands. "For the sake of our little discussions, lets assume it comes down to the four of us. Who's its gonna be?"

"Pass." Emerald crossed both arms in an X-shape before her bosom. "Hard pass."

"She's got a point you know." Naruto added with a frown of his own, "You keep saying this like its a done deal or something. Aren't you being a little overconfident?"

"Nope." Coco smacked her lips. "Because _I_ am going to hunt you down, Whiskers."

Emerald nearly leaped upright before Naruto wrestled her back down. Coco wasn't fazed by it in the least.

"And if you fail?" he asked.

"Eh," she waved, "I'll just bribe the headmaster or something. No big deal."

Velvet finally found her voice with a gasp. "Coco, no!"

"Coco, yes!" her partner cackled.

_"That's illegal!"_

"It also won't work." Though Emerald's face remained stoic, Naruto knew her well enough to seen when she was angry, and he'd _seen_ her fingers twitch back toward the knife just now. "He has a school, remember? This school. The one we're trying to get into. Bribery sounds like a bad idea."

Coco's head slammed into her empty tray.

...damn you and your common sense."

Naruto opened his mouth to say something to the same effect, only to pause as a fresh tray clanked down opposite him.

"Is this space taken?" someone asked.

"Huh?" he blinked, startled by the new arrival. "Sure, go ahead. Knock yourself out." he muttered the words almost flippantly, never once paying attention until a small slip of a girl slid in across from them. Even then he barely noticed her at first, consumed as he was in his conversation with Coco. Could it be called a conversation? Wasn't it more of an argument?

Meh. Semantics.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, bowing her head as everyone turned to stare at her, "Did I interrupt something?"

In any case, the newcomer was a slight little thing clad in a gray short-sleeved cropped top that left her midriff exposed, with matching brown pants and black-over-ankle boots. He wasn't quite sure if her skin could be called dark or dusky, but the somewhat darker spots on her exposed skin instantly drew his attention nevertheless. Logic said they might be scars or birthmark, but he suspected something else. Her brown hair lay tied back in a loose curling ponytail that rather resembled chameleon's tail, leaving her eyes a light gray with a faint azure tint. Said eyes creased in a slight smile when she caught him staring.

"That was a good thing you did last night." she hummed, quietly tucking into her meal. "Its good to see one of our own stick up for themselves."

Naruto twitched. "Say what now?"

"Our own?" Velvet peeked around Coco's shoulder.

As everyone looked on the new girl's skin flushed a faint green with blue her spots; no, her whole body did, even her hair seemed to change color for a moment, brown burning into a deep navy. Coco whistled and clapped appreciatively, a look of rapturous awe flitting behind her shades. Naruto was almost tempted to clap with her. A chameleon Faunus? Those were rare these days, rarer than _him_ even.

"And you are...?" Emerald growled.

"Ilia." she granted the human a somewhat bemused look. "I believe you slapped me with a pillow last night."

"Oh. I remember you now." Emerald's smile resembled a shark. Her reply? More so. "You tried to strangle me with a sleeping bag."

"I failed, didn't I?" the brunette tilted her head with a smirk of her own. Coco all but howled with laughter; even Velvet was unable to hide the small, shy smile on her lips.

Ah yes, the great pillow fight night; that one _had _dissolved into insanity once Cardin and his crew went down; in the end it'd become a free for fall until no one was left standing. Good times. They'd have to do that again sometime. But more importantly! Just how did you _strangle_ someone with a sleeping bag?! Real questions here. He had to know the answers. Moreover he had the distinct feeling Emerald just made herself a new friend. That was good, right? Emerald didn't have many friends. So why was he suddenly so terrified?

...should I fear for my life?" he muttered at her.

Emerald shrugged indifferently; she could've answered, but decided to let him sweat instead. Said indifference changed when another, larger body slid in beside Illia.

"Pardon me." a familiar voice caused her neck to produce an audible back as she spun around.

_"You?!"_

It was the man she'd seen yesterday; he was exactly the same as she remembered, right down to his outfit...with two notable exceptions. For reasons she didn't understand he'd deliberately _dyed his hair black_ and wrapped a strange red cloth around his eyes to conceal them. Was that supposed to be a disguise? If so, she considered it something of a poor one. Could he even see through that damn thing? Emerald certainly saw through _him_ well enough. You couldn't forget someone like that, no matter how hard they tried to hide.

"Is there a problem?" as though sensing her gaze, his head turned towards her. Gods above he really could see through that!

...no. Nothing."

"Hmm." the young man granted her a grunt.

"Don't worry about Adam," Illia hummed. "He's harmless...for the most part."

The young man clicked his tongue at his companion but otherwise didn't refute her statement.

Naruto, however, wore a more scrutinizing expression. "Adam...now where have I heard that name before?"

Ilia must've realized her gaffe immediately; because she turned absolutely bone white before she managed to master herself. Too late. Her companion grit his teeth and Emerald pounced on it, her gaze locking onto the now-sullen teen with a laser focus. Naruto had been right on that count; because the name Adam did sound strangely familiar. Ilia was a mystery, but Adam...she'd definitely heard it somewhere before, too. Hadn't she? Where? There hadn't been anyone like him in Vacuo, she would've remembered if there were. Which meant she'd heard it somewhere else.

On the news, then? Maybe? Possibly?

A small part of Emerald wanted to say that she had, even as she frowned upon herself for her own curiosity. She and Naruto had secrets of their own, secrets they desperately wanted to keep. Who was she to begrudge them theirs? It didn't matter. It shouldn't matter. So long as they stayed out of their way-

Naruto tapped her thigh beneath the table and Emerald went cold.

It was their own code they'd created as children; not terribly efficient and one they rarely used these days, but it was enough to catch her attention all the same. How had it gone again. One tap for yes. Twice for no. She felt him begin to trace a series of letters against her skin beneath the fabric of her jeans, fingers moving a brisk pace before stopping. Her blood froze in its veins as she understood them. Velvet was speaking now, but it was all she could do to stay still. She barely heard her; all the while the letters burned in her mind.

_White Fang._

She flung her Semblance at Naruto in a one-way communique. _"You must be joking."_

Two taps.

_"What the hell's a terrorist doing in Beacon?!"_

The blond paused and wrote a name against her leg again with painstaking slowness.

_Adam Taurus_.

Emerald glanced at him again, a frown tugging at the corner of her mouth. Shit. No wonder she knew the name. She could see it now; the set of his jaw was the same as she'd seen in the news reports, as were the horns and the hair, though he'd clearly dyed it in an attempt to blend in. No one had ever seen his face behind the mask he always wore. Why the blindfold, then? What purpose did it serve? Did that mean Ilia was a member as well, or was she an innocent in this? Too many questions. Not enough answers.

At the end of the day, Emerald was a thief. She stole to survive. So did Naruto. And as a thief, she _loathed _terrorists.

Whenever they took a job, they always made sure it was clean. They had a code. Steal from the rich, never the poor. Only take what you need, or barring that, what you can use. Don't get greedy. Don't get caught. Don't sell yourself to the highest bidder. They didn't fight for a cause, didn't take lives, and most assuredly didn't blow up trains full of innocent people. Worse, they were hypocrites. Oh they preached about equality and Faunus rights, but Emerald thought it a bunch of tripe.

Naruto was a Faunus and she got on with him just fine. So what if he had ears and a tail? He was her friend. Bunch of bullshit.

Terrorists were the sort of folk you didn't steal from; they were liable to hunt you down and kill you for it. And the White Fang? They were the _worst_ sort of terrorists. Wherever they went they left a trail of devastation and destruction in their wake. Bloodshed was bad for business. Bloodshed meant a body count and _bodies_ meant heightened security. _Security_ entailed extra risk, extra guards, extra cameras and for a thief? _Death. _Now one of the White Fang's most infamous agents was sitting at the same table with them. Blast it. Beacon was meant to be a new life. A simple one free of crime and complications. Not...this.

"So what brings the two of you to Beacon?"_ Blast it, dumbass!_ She cursed Coco for her curiosity even as her mind continued to race.

"We're looking for someone." Ilia hedged, stealing a nervous look at her companion, who'd gone curiously quiet in the silence. "A friend of ours. We...wanted to be hunters together."

Well there was a lie if she'd ever heard one. Adam's meal left was all but untouched now; he was too busy watching Naruto like a hawk. His smile suddenly seemed brittle, but the blond's grin had only grown in the time she'd taken her eyes off of him.

"What about you, horn-head?" the blond offered suddenly, startling her. "Got anything to add to that?"

Adamn didn't utter a word. Ilia was still as the grave.

"Does it matter?" Sensing the tension, Coco tried to put the matter to bed. "We're all students now, or we will be, once initiation's done. Right? Guy?" she waved her arms frantically. "C'mon, what's with you two?! What does it matter who we were before?"

"Oh, I think it matters." Naruto shook his head. "Doesn't it?"

"It does." The former redhead surprised him by raising his head. "A question for you, if I may."

"Shoot." the blond leaned forward.

Adam rose to meet him. "Tell me, why did you defend that girl last evening?"

"What?" Naruto blinked, momentarily taken aback before he recovered. "Because he was bullying her; because it was the right thing to do. Why else would I do it?"

Adam's mouth set itself into a thin line. "Then you have your answer."

Emerald's jaw clicked open. Velvet whined and rammed her head into Coco's back. Ilia sputtered in surprise. Naruto blinked, his grin falling slack before the unexpected jab. All the world held its breath.

_Oh gods, here it comes._ Emerald tensed and forced herself to drink her coffee, all the while dreading what was about to transpire. She knew her partner well enough by now to know what he'd do next. Watched the muscle in his right arm tense, knowing at any moment he'd bolt into action, flip the table and...

"Lets be friends."

_...offer him his hand?!_

Adam gazed at the offered palm, half expecting it to bite. "You can't be serious."

Naruto beamed. "Sure am! You said you were looking for someone, right? I'd like to help. Well," he paused, "That and maybe reform you."

Ilia toppled out of her seat with a squawk and this time, Emerald nearly joined the poor girl. This...what was this? Was she missing something here? They needed to leave! Run! Flee! Tell a teacher at the very least! She didn't know what the White Fang was planning here in Beacon, but it couldn't possibly be good for any of them. The fact that Naruto was actively shaking Adam's hand only left her even more baffled than before. Just what was it with him and reforming everyone. They were thieves! They stole things! They weren't therapists! When the terrorist actually looked her way? She lost all pity for him.

"Might as well give up." She had to force the words out, even as her legs longed to run for the hills. "There's no shaking him when he like this."

"Ohhh, I can think of one thing I'd like to see him shake-

_"COCO!"_ Velvet wailed!

Naruto slapped his free palm against his face as the squabbling continued.

_Adam Taurus._

He was shaking hands with a wanted terrorist. Said terrorist had disguised himself and gotten into Beacon somehow. Was Ozpin just being lax, or had someone let him slip through? He didn't know; nor would have made the connection if Ilia -if that was even her real name- hadn't let it slip. Anyone else would've bolted to their feet and started shrieking for the authorities. Him? He saw potential. Emerald had always called it a flaw of his in the past. He considered it a strength. He liked to see the good in people, but he wasn't a fool. Keep your friends close. And your enemies closer.

In a single sharp movement, he yanked his fellow faunus forward, wrist grinding painfully beneath his fingers as he pulled him close.

"From one monster to another, allow me to warn you." he whispered in his ear with a faux smile, "I believe in second chances. Not thirds. Nor fourths." Adam's wrist gave an ominous creak as he continued to squeeze, all but ready to shatter under his grasp. "I don't know why you're here or what your objective is and frankly? I don't care. You have one chance. One. Don't waste it, kay? Nod if you understand."

"Uh, boys?" Coco coughed. "Something you wanna tell us?"

To his great delight, Adam capitulated with a bob of his head. Good. Perhaps there was some hope for him after all. Time would tell. In a single seamless movement he released Taurus and sat back down beside a baffled Emerald. Ilia's head poked over the table as she reluctantly climbed back into her seat, looking just as frazzled as he felt. Her face flickered through half a dozen different shades and he almost pitied her. Not enough to rescue her from the smoldering glower Adam sent her way, though.

_"Hope you know what you're doing."_ Emerald whispered in his ear via her Semblance.

Naruto sighed. You and me both.

By now their table was a touch crowded, and the hour they'd been afforded for breakfast nearly expired. Yet when he spied a familiar redhead still searching for a seat, he found a way to change the subject. He'd heard her name last night after she'd thrown the first pillow...but it escaped him. Naruto knew he _had_, but for the life of him he couldn't remember. It started with a P. He was certain of that much. Bugger. Well, he knew one way to get her attention.

"Hey, red!" he called out, his voice cracking across the cafeteria like a whip. "Over here! We've got an empty spot for you!"

Pyrrha's head snapped toward them and she nearly dropped her tray. "Ex...Excuse me?"

"You. Here. Now. Sit." he gestured grandly. "Understand?"

Pale cheeks gone red -no, redder!- than her scarlet hair, the girl hastened across the room their table. She didn't walk to them. She ran; as though in doing so she could somehow escape all the eyes upon her. Poor thing. It was like herding a skittish cat, she looked fit to bolt at the slightest provocation.

"May I?"

"Sure!" he made room for her. "We've always got room for a friend."

The hope in her eyes was almost too painful to behold. "If it isn't too much trouble...?"

"Not at all! You gave Cardin what for last night. That makes you a friend." He patted the space beside him and Coco slid aside with a faintly bemused look. Emerald rolled her eyes and made a point of ignoring the younger girl. Not so Coco. She smelled blood in the water and like the huntress she aspired to be, she pounced.

"Well as I live and breathe." she drawled, propping a hand against her chin. "You really are Pyrrha Nikos, aren't you?" Aha! There it was. _That_ was her name. "Aren't you a little young to be here?"

"Seconded." Emerald munched on a muffin. "Just how many strings did you pull, miss Invincible Girl?" Naruto stomped her foot and she jerked in place. "Hey!"

Pyrrha wilted and he considered her anew as he polished off the last remnants of his meal. Was she? Sure she was small, but she had spirit. In a year she'd be freaking tall. He could tell. And if she was strong enough to make her way here on merit alone...well. Didn't she deserve a chance? Didn't they all? Everyone was owed a chance. At least one.

"Oh." Unfortunately, the freshman mistook their scrutiny for something else. "Is it that obvious?"

Velvet shrugged helplessly and you _knew_ it was bad when she piped up. "It really is."

"You don't have to say anything." Ilia added hastily.

"No, its quite alright. I've been asked this question several times today already. Truly, its no trouble at all." she seemed to shrink for a moment before she steeled her resolve and spoke on. "My...father wanted me to attend Haven. I refused." when she raised her gaze those green eyes burned with quiet defiance. "I chose Beacon instead." no one challenged that remark and she seized the opportunity to bull on despite their silence, "If its all the same to you, I'd rather not say more."

"Still, a year early?" Coco was merciless in her interrogation. "You might fall behind with a gap like that."

"I'm willing to work hard to make my way here." Pyrrha's chin rose. "My grades won't be an issue."

"Good for you," Naruto reached around to pat her head. "That's the spirit! I call dibs!"

Emerald and Pyrrha bolted upright, eyes wide as saucer plates. "What?!"

"I've decided." he declared, heedless of the little redhead's squeak and Emerald's frown, "You're just too precious, so me and Em are claiming you. You're stuck with us now. Whatever this initiation test is, we wouldn't mind having you on our team. Right, Em?" as he looked on the olive-skinned girl considered her for a moment, summarily dismissed her as a threat, and shrugged. "Don't mind her, she's shy-YEOW!" he yelped aloud when she stomped him back under the table in retaliation.

Coco sniggered. "Right. _Shy."_

Adam tossed his head. "You're a strange girl."

She grinned right back. "Handsome, you have no idea."

Remarkably, he retort turned the boy's face the same color as his hair.

"Why you uppity little...!"

"Ignore him!" Illia squeaked out, grabbing his arm before he could do anything foolish. "He didn't mean that!"

"Eh, its fine." Naruto yawned. "We've all got thick skin here."

They made for an odd-looking group all things considered, and drew more than their fair share of attention; not all of it pleasant. It was a rare thing indeed to see so many Humans and Faunus congregating in one place, much less getting along. Even from here, Naruto could feel Cardin glaring bloody red daggers into his back. There it was, then. He'd had his chance.

This time, he whipped an apple over his shoulder; the strangled howl he received was sweet, sweet music to his ears.

Adam surprised him with a short bark of laughter.

_"Attention. Would all first year students please report to beacon cliff for initiation."_ a woman's voice droned from the intercom above, swallowing his retort. _"I repeat, all first year students please collect your weapons and proceed to the cliffs, immediately."_

Naruto and Emerald exchanged a bemused look.

"Guess that's our cue."

* * *

_(.0.0.0.)_

* * *

Emerald saw the launch pads first.

More than two dozen of the worn silver squares awaited them on the cliffs overlooking the Emerald Forest. Heh. Whoever named the place had good taste if nothing else. Still, all these squares did _not _make a circle, and all of them were laid out in a long horizontal line leading across the grass as far as she could see. Crimson eyes widened first in confusion, then comprehension as she finally beheld Headmaster Ozpin and the woman from before. What was her name again? She couldn't be bothered to remember. Didn't matter.

They were going to send them down into the forest below. Call it a hunch. Call it instinct. Call it whatever. She knew. She just knew. Blast it all, she had a bad feeling about this...

One by one they were each bid to take their places on the aforementioned pads.

She flared her Semblance at Naruto as she chose the leftmost square. His ears twitched in recognition and he immediately selected the one next to her. A grinning Coco gave Velvet a nudge next to _him _then slipped in to snatch the nearest one she could for herself. Emerald raised her hackles at the sight. Blasted brunette. She was just too damn persistent!

From there the others chose their places quickly.

Adam and Ilia stuck together as did Cardin and his friends. She didn't expect any d

Poor Pyrrha stole a longing glance at an empty square nearby beside her and then, perhaps recalling Naruto's words, darted forward.

"I'm sorry." she whispered fretfully. "Is this one taken?"

Emerald granted her a pitying smile. Had she ever been that timid as a child? Of course not. They'd grown up in different kingdoms, different lands, different worlds for all that it mattered. This girl had everything handed to her while she had to fight just for scraps. Some of it must have shone through her expression, for Naruto flashed a black look at her. Thus, the thief blew out a small, exasperated breath.

"Its fine, kid." she muttered, scratching the back of her head. "Don't worry about it. Hope you've got a good landing strategy prepared."

Those jade eyes lit with a hope that was almost too painful to behold. She was just a little thing. Surely she was no threat.

Perhaps had Emerald been privy to the state of Pyrrha's mind at that moment, she would've felt more reassured.

They didn't know care about her fame. If they did, they certainly didn't seem to care. This. This was why she'd accepted Ozpin's invitation all those months ago. To come to Beacon, a year early. She could have a life here, a proper one. Friends perhaps, if she was fortunate. Maybe even something more. And so she smiled.

"I think that sounds grand."

Naruto barked a laugh that flashed his fangs and made her flush. It made him look more beast than man and the sight had her blood all but singing. Here was someone who didn't give a damn about societal norms; he did what he pleased, when he pleased, where he pleased. Was it wrong that little Pyrrha found that appealing? Was it wrong that she wanted to be his friend because of it? That was all she wanted friends. The friends she'd never had back in Mistral. Just a little piece of happiness with herself. She didn't have to be on Naruto's team. She'd be happy with Emerald. Coco. Velvet and the rest seemed nice, too-

"If the two of you are quite done?" Ozpin coughed into his fist.

Both the redhead and the greenette sputtered and stood at attention.

"For years you have trained to become warriors." the headmaster spared them one last bemused look as he raised his voice and turned to face the horde of applicants assembled before them. "And today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Blast it all, she'd been right.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams." the woman beside him stepped forth to continue where he'd left off. "Allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates_...today."_

Naruto sucked in a short, sharp breath.

"These teammates will be with you for the remainder of your time at Beacon." Ozpin added. "So it is in your best interests to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said," he continued, "The first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Pyrrha made a choking sound. Poor kid looked like she was going to faint.

"After you've partnered up," Ozpin barreled on, heedless of their confusion, "Make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way." his piercing gaze seemed to sear into each and every one of them in turn. "Do not hesitate to destroy everything or you _will_ die."

'Sure thing, boss man. No pressure. None at all.'

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene" Gods, was he still going? She thought he would've finished by now. "You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, upon which you will be graded appropriately. In the meantime, feel free to use your own landing strategy."

There was a collective gulp.

"Finally, there are a limited number of relics." he allowed his bespectacled gaze to sweep over each of them in turn one final time. "I shouldn't have to tell you what that means, but for the sake of any argument, I shall elaborate. Some of you will succeed. Others will fail." a poignant pause followed and with it, that once easy sense of camaraderie evaporated like so much steam. "Any questions?"

Naruto's arm shot up like a piston. Emerald slapped her forehead as all eyes rounded on him.

"Yes?" Ozpin arched an eyebrow.

"How many relics are there, exactly?" he asked.

"Not enough for all of you, certainly." the headmaster retorted with an even air. "Those unable to secure a relic today may make another attempt next year." some of the tension bled away at those words, but not much. If anything, this remark only seemed to make the rest all the more determined, Emerald chief among them. No one wanted to wait twelve months to try again. It also summoned another, less pleasant thought. Failure. What if Naruto passed and she failed, or vice versa? They'd be separated. The thought made her stomach flip. No. Not that. Anything but that.

"Why, though?" to her surprise, the words came from her own lips. "We earned our right to be here." _No! Bad mouth! Shut up, damnit!_ "Haven't we?"

Ozpin turned to face her. "Miss Sustrai, was it?"

_Crapbaskets._

Red eyes narrowed intently upon Beacon's headmaster, even as she braced for a sharp rebuke. It never came. "Have a nice flight."

All at once, Emerald felt the springpad tense beneath her and realized he had no intention of answering. "YOU SONUVAAA-

Her withering retort trailed off into a wordless shriek of rage as she rocketed into the air.

* * *

_(.0.0.0.)_

* * *

_This was going to hurt._

In hindsight Naruto had no one to blame but himself for his plight; because the moment he'd seen Emerald take off, he panicked. He saw her eyes widen in surprise -and fear!- and reacted accordingly. Ozpin's little stunt had made him panic, you see. And in his panic, the reincarnated shinobi did something spectacularly stupid. Rather than await his turn to be launched into the Emerald Forest like any sane individual, he spun around and rammed an armored fist into _his _pad to activate it early and give it a little extra oomph. Result?

He shot after her like a golden missile.

Perhaps he should have marked her with his Semblance to ensure this didn't happen; but in truth, he'd never thought to do so before. Naruto knew he should have the moment his feet left the ground. There was no word and barely any warning to prepare himself, only the sudden sensation of pressure beneath his boots before his world blurred. Even then he had just enough time and sense to tense his legs and _leap _of his own volition before the world fell away. It was a very good jump, all things considered; he already knew where he wanted to go and the pad was more than happy to hurl him into the air as it had been programmed to do.

Unfortunately his brief panic attack cost him dearly. Had he simply left well enough alone he likely would've landed relatively near her position.

Instead he overshot her by half a mile. _Then came the trees._

"No, no, no! Are you kidding me?!"

Wind lashed angrily at his face, forcing the blond to squint painfully as he got both arms up and deployed his weapons. His entire vision swelled with green and brown. Ordinarily they were welcome colors. Not so now. In a second he'd find himself loathing them. With no other recourse he raised his shields, grit his teeth, and braced for what he was sure would be be an unpleasant experience.

_Poor! Landing! Strategy!_

A jarring impact shuddered up Naruto's arm as he crashed through the first oak, followed by the second, then the third. Now a fourth. They didn't stop coming and he lost track after the ninth. At this speed, grabbing a tree wouldn't simply be unwise; it would suicide. Dislocating a shoulder would be the least of his worries if he tore an arm off. He'd just have to trust in his ample Aura reserved and ride his momentum down. In that, he was lucky. He could tank hits that would eviscerate others, endure where many couldn't, and keep going.

This was no exception.

Finally he spied a low hanging bough, bounded off it, kicked off another tree to siphon off his momentum, and arced toward the ground.

It was just bad luck that a lone Beowolf happened to be in his landing zone.

Bad luck for the Grimm, that is.

To its credit, the poor Grimm _heard_ Naruto coming a ways off; but by the time it saw him coming at speed, it simply wasn't able to to _do_ anything. Somehow the poor creature managed a lone bark of surprise before he cannoned headlong into it and swiped its head from his shoulders. Grinning he rode its corpse to the ground and landed in a pointed crouch on the packed soil. Aura flexed around the impact as his knee struck the earth, bringing with it a pleasant ache as he rose. Armored arms stretched and struck up a lazy pose.

"Nailed it~!" he laughed softly, flinging a pumped fist into the air. "And the crowd goes wild!"

A lone cricked chirruped in the distance.

"Yeesh, tough crowd."

Sighing he picked a direction that he _hoped _was North and set out towards it with a jaunty tune. Emerald would find her way to the temple, surely. He just...couldn't make eye contact with anyone until then._ Yeah. Totally doable. You got this._ Just ignore all the noise and head north. He could do this. Definitely.

A faint rustle behind him caught his attention. Someone shouted. It sounded suspiciously like Cardin.

_"Well, well, well. Look who it is!" _Definitely Cardin. "Where you going, whiskers?"

...far, far away from you."

Naruto blew out a breath and walked away, determined not to look back, no matter the cost. He didn't have time for this; whatever energy he wasted on him would be better spent seeking out Emerald. That big lummox could find someone else to be his partner. That way lay nothing but misery.

A hand locked around one of his ears and yanked. Hard. Well. Now he knew how Velvet felt.

"C'mon now, don't be like that." the boy's voice oozed. "We're pals, aren't we? Look at me when I'm talking to you."

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut and hissed out a breath when the larger boy yanked again but otherwise, refused to grant him the reaction he sought. Even then pain blazed in the back of his skull and he only narrowly succeeded in stilling himself. Stop. Don't react. If he opened his eyes now he'd wind up working with Cardin; he wouldn't put it past Ozpin to have cameras installed somewhere around here. They were being monitored by the teacher. They had to be. Gods, Cardin was still talking.

"You know, you really made a fool of me yesterday." there was an angry, vindictive glee in the younger boy's voice now, he could just imagine his sneer. "Maybe its time I paid you back for that. Friends don't hold grudges after all...

Idiot. Enough of this. Violence it was, then. Cardin had struck first. "I've got a better idea."

"Oh, really?" the grip on his ear intensified. "And what's that-

Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, wrenched his head to the side, and lashed out with one of his shields. He didn't need his eyes to hit him; his ears told him exactly where to strike. Sure enough, _Devil's Retribution_ struck something metal and the larger boy cried out in surprise as he crashed backward. At least it sounded like he had. Didn't matter. Cardin was no friend of his, he wanted nothing to do with him, and thus, the blond waited just long enough for his weapon to carom back into his waiting palm before he bolted.

"Hey!"

_"Nope!"_ Naruto blazed forward, bounded over a log, and dove into the brush beyond, uncaring of the snags and branches that slapped at his face. In a matter of moments, he'd left the burly boy behind. In the distance he heard a Beowolf howl. Good riddance to bad rubbish on that front. He'd sooner lop off an arm that work with that lug. Let the others have him!

Somewhere behind him, a gunshot went off. Good. At least someone seemed to be helping the big lug. Now he needn't feel guilty about this.

A few paces in, he glimpsed the back of a dark blur that might've been Adam in the trees. He recognized the horns and despite his earlier remark, he clamped a hand over his eyes and turned away. An annoyed cough told him he'd finally been noticed, but he dare not remove his hand for fear of being partnered up.

"Just passing through." he called out to him. "You go your way and I'll go mine."

The former redhead grunted. "Fair enough...fight well."

When next he looked, the swordsman was gone.

"Phew." Naruto blew out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Too close. Gotta be more careful."

Whoever was out there, surely they could look after themselves. Emerald was the only partner he wanted in Beacon. Coco and Velvet were _alright_ he supposed, and he wouldn't be opposed to the idea of being on a _team _with either of them, but there was only one woman in the world he trusted to watch his back. To be his partner. Perhaps that was petty of him; selfish even. It wouldn't matter if he wound up on the same team as Emerald, but some small childish part of him wanted them to remain partners in name as well as deed.

"Damnit." He hissed as he slammed a fist into a tree. "This just isn't my day. Is fate trying to to screw me over or something?"

Still, the way forward was clear; the way behind more so now that he'd left that first potential hopeful behind.

So focused was he on evading any would-be pursuers that he failed to heed his surroundings; it was only when someone cried out _above_ him that he realized his mistake in striking the tree. He'd punched _hard._ Perhaps a little too hard. Not once did he think to look up until someone yelped above him. By then it was too late.

_"Aaargh?!"_

As such, when a light weight crashed down on his shoulders and latched onto him, his first impulse was to buck. Violently. You didn't live long in Vacuo by ignoring your instincts, and his had been honed to a razor's edge in the alleyways of that horrible kingdom long before he and Emerald left that world behind. Really, he couldn't be blamed for what happened next.

Naruto roared in surprise and reached upward, hands flying out to grab whatever he could.

Strong fingers locked around an arm alongside a fistful of hair. He used it as leverage to _yank_ and heave his attacker free from his body, flinging them to the earth.

From there instinct took over and he surged forward, pinning his would-be assailant in place with a lightly armored knee. A yelp greeted his attack a pair of bright yellow eyes flew open to blaze back at him, framed by a young face and dark hair. The poor girl froze beneath him, ebony tresses sprawled beneath her like a black halo to match her dark clothes; but those didn't hold his attention. The ears twitching atop her head did. What, a cat faunus? Unexpected. She glowered furiously up at him, angrier than a kitten caught in the rain. It certainly didn't help that he had her pinned.

He was holding a ribbon in his fist. Blazing amber orbs locked on it. "Give it back." she hissed at him.

They say first impressions last a lifetime; this was certainly a memorable one if nothing else.

Aghast, he realized they'd just made eye contact. Naruto swore softly.

"Well," he gulped, "I'm terribly sorry about this, but..._YOINK!"_

He who runs away lives to fight another day!

Emerald was going to murder him.

_"Get back here you bastard!"_

**A/N: TIIIIIIIIRED~!**

**Remember, we're a YEAR out from the events of RWBY here folks, but the timeline has changed drastically.**

**For anyone who didn't realize, YES, that is a young Blake Belladona. Well, a year younger. I did say canon had changed, did I not? As a result of Naruto and Emerald's shenanigans -and Ozpin being a meddly meddler!- some characters have appeared a little earlier than expected. Some, but not all. ****Votes have been tallied, but I'm obviously not going to reveal the results yet. Lets just say Naruto's team is going to be...unique.**

**More Naruto and Emerald bits next chapter, don't you worry. ****References are references and I own nothing. I'll let you guess where things are headed from here...and you might be surprised. ****I've done some thinking and I've decided I'm not going to rush things. Feels like it would ruin the story.**

**This story's got twists and turns for days, so I hope you're prepared!**

**I've been writing long chapters lately, between this, Killing Monsters, An Untraveled Road, and Remnants of a Shinobi, its been hectic. Don't even get me started on the fluffy goodness that is Embers of Hope and Everybody Loves Cookies! Not to mention the other ones!**

**Right, then.**

**Hope this made you smile.**

**As ever, lack of reviews murder my inspiration. If folks don't review, I tend to think they don't like a story, you know?**

**So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...**

**...Revieeew... Would You Kindly?**

**They keeps an old man alive.**

**And enjoy the previews!**

_**SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!**_

_**READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!  
**_

_**PLOT DETAILS AHOY!**_

**Have a preview.**

**Hints ahoy!**

**(Preview)**

_"That...is a big Beowolf. How did it get so large?!"_

_"Does it matter?! Kill it! Before it kills us!"_

* * *

_"You have people out there who need you!"_

* * *

_"I am me. Nobody else! Me!"_

* * *

_"Run, Naruto. _**_RUN."_**

* * *

_"Ma'am?"_

_Cinder flicked a lazy palm at Mercury. "Watch them for now. I'm intrigued in that girl's ability. She could be of use to us."_

_"She could...but she's wrapped around blondie's finger."_

_"On the contrary, dear Mercury." her smile sent a shiver shooting down his spine. "He's wrapped around hers. Win her to our side, and he'll soon follow."_

* * *

_"You may begin."_

_"Oh, dear." Pyrrha groaned._

_Naruto raised his shield, and Adam his sword in a salute._

_Too late, Emerald realized both boys were smiling. No. Grinning. Then they blurred._

* * *

_Naruto frowned back at his reflection, wondering if he'd imagined it._

_"Yo." said reflection waved back of its own accord._

_His fist slammed into the mirror._

**R&R~!**


	5. Wolves and Sheep

**A/N: **_**PLEASE READ THIS NOTE, WOULD YOU KINDLY?**_

**EDIT: ****Trolls and threats all over the reviews yet again. Bah! Begone! ****Can anyone see this? Are the glitches gone? Please let me know. Untraveled Road is nearing completion, my team's polishing it up a bit so rest assured you'll have it soon. I believe it'll be ready by Wednesday -or Thursday depending your timezone- so there you have it. In the meantime...**

**Reviews are my fuel and without them, I wither and die as an author. I want to make people happy...but silence hurts.**

**Remember! We're a year out from the events of Canon. As such, Blake and Pyrrha are both a year younger. Same applies for Cardin and his gang.**

***clears throat***

**FINALLY! I can write the scenes I've had planned since I first penned this story. My team's been watching me like a hawk to make sure I didn't go off on a tangent, but now I'm free to go nuts! Blake's one of my favorite mouthpieces, but the true treat is the action in this chapter, the fluff, the violence, the little heartwarming bits, the devilish twists and turns and of course, the sweet, sweet surprises.**

**Now, then!**

**I hope you're ready dear reader; b****ecause we're taking the dial and cranking it up to ELEVEN. ****We've got a real treat for you here; the gang and I spent three nights getting this ironed out and the details juuust right. Remember all of those plans we mentioned earlier? All those clever little hints and details? You're about to see them bloom. ****For better or worse, Naruto made eye contact with Blake in the last chapter; a fact neither is particularly happy about. ****Still, our boy's accepted it.**

**We've got a clash of ideologies in this chapter, one I'm sure you've all seen coming a mile away.**

**Naruto makes no apologies for the life he and Emerald lived. They were orphans. They were children. They had to to horrible things to survive. ****Blake, on the other hand...well. We all know how Naruto feels about people concealing their true nature. Considering he's already reincarnated...well. You'll see. It certainly doesn't help that ****Grimm are drawn to negative emotion ladies and gentlemen and ohohoho you could cut the tension with a knife in this chapter.**

**No long author's note this time around; we don't want to detract from the chapter.**

**As ever we own no quotes, references, themes or memes!**

**So in lieu of a wordy author's note...**_**readysetgo!**_

_"__There it is. That's the look. I've seen it for years in face after face in the streets of Vacuo. __Stop running from your past, damnit! Face it head on! Grab it by the horns! I know its hard for you. I know it hurts! But trust me, its gonna be a whole lot worse if you leave things as they are! If you can't get over it, then commit to it! Strangle that guilt holding you back, raise your head high and walk forward!"_

_"I can't! I'm not a monster! Unlike you, I **regret** the things I've done!"_

_"Oh. Monster, am I? Perhaps you should speak to me more softly then. Monsters are dangerous. You damn me for the deeds I've done, you judge me for the crimes you THINK I've committed, but your hands are just as bloody as mine. If not moreso! Men fear monsters, don't they? And not just men, but women and children too. Even OUR kind run from them. Fear them. Dread them. And you believe you know what it is to be a monster, hmm? So you've taken a few lives and feel bad about it. Bah! There are worse things than death. Get over yourself._

_You have no idea what a monster is, Blake. Follow me. I'm going to show you."_

_~an argument of ideals._

**Wolves and Sheep**

Life wasn't fair.

Blake Belladonna had never been more certain of that fact until this moment. _"Give it back!"_

She tried for what felt like the umpteenth time to snatch her stolen ribbon back from Naruto, to no avail. Much to her dismay her fellow Faunus held it tight in his right hand as he walked ahead of her. Any attempt on her part to extricate it from his fist seemed doomed to failure. No matter how she tried to distract him, she couldn't pry the strip of fabric from his fist; every attempt on her part only served to deepen his scowl. By now sixth attempt he looked positively murderous. Still, she had to try.

"Would you stop glaring at me?" Naruto clicked his tongue in mild admonishment as he stepped over a fallen log. "I'm not happy about this either...but we're partners now. We'll just to deal with it."

She swiped at his hand again.

"No, no, no." he shook his head and batted her palm away. "You're not getting this back. I don't know why you were hiding those ears of yours, but I'm not having it. Don't hide who you are."

"Its none of your business" she sulked. "I had a reason for hiding them!"

"I'm a fox, sweetheart." Piercing blue eyes roved across the path ahead and the trees above before finally settling on her. "Everything is my business. Tell you what." he paused and turned to plant his back against a worn looking tree. "You tell me the reason why, and I'll give it back. No strings attached."

...

...

...

Silence reigned supreme.

"Have it your way." the fox Faunus shrugged. "The bow stays with me, then."

"You're insufferable, you know that?" Blake scuffed the ground with her foot and kicking dirt at him as he marched on ahead of her once more. "I don't _want_ to be your partner. You weren't even _trying_ to knock me out of that tree! Why don't you just let me go and pretend you never met me?! It would be better for the both of us!"

"No can do, kitty-kat." as ever, his razor wit bit through her defiance like an angry Beowolf. "Ozpin and his cronies are watching us. _You_ can run if you like, you strike me as the type, but it won't change the result."

She dragged herself after him like a ball and chain for fear of being left behind.

_"You're lying."_

"Nope." Naruto jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating a nearby oak to her right. "There's a camera up there in the branches. You can see it in the sunlight if you squint." Much to her chagrin, she saw light dance off metal as a lens focus on them. "See?" He snapped of a snarky salute to the device in question. "There's no getting out of this."

Damn. Damnit. Damn him!

She'd tried so hard, gotten so far, but in the end it didn't even matter. She'd come to Beacon to start over. This was meant to be the beginning of a new life for her. She'd pass initiation and become a huntress here, find a simple partner who wouldn't pry into her past, and a team who wouldn't ask questions. She would be free of the White Fang and all her sins, given a chance to atone.

Fate had a cruel sense of humor it seemed.

Instead she'd wound up with the one person she couldn't accept. She'd seen this boy mop the floor with Cardin and his cronies in the auditorium with almost punitive ease and -while a small silent part of her admired that he'd stuck up for that poor girl- right now she wanted nothing more than to drown him in a river. It wasn't his fault. He just stood out too much. Reminded her of Adam too much.

She'd thought herself clever, but moreover, she thought Vale was safe. She'd left the White Fang to get _away_ from Faunus like him, not to tumble into the arms of another.

In a different life she would've waited another year before leaving the Fang- leaving Adam!- behind as she had. But she'd been so angry. A simple argument between the two of them had escalated into a war of ideals, and so here she was. Adam and Illia weren't supposed to come after her, yet they had. Now here she was trapped with a maniac of a different sort. Who still wouldn't give back her bow!

Beacon was meant to be an escape from all this. A winning hand in the card game that was life. Not...this. Frantic and out of options, she threw one of her last remaining card at her_ -not not not!-_ still silent partner.

"I know who you are."

Naruto hummed and peeled back a branch for her. "Do you now? By all means, enlighten me."

She ducked under it and hurried after him. Damn him and those long legs of his. He had to be enjoying this.

"You...you're that thief!" when he only chuckled at her, she felt her face darken even more. "The one from Vacuo! Desert Storm!"

"Really?" His laughter redoubled. "Is _that_ what they're calling me these days? Ha!" He batted aside a web of vines and paused to inspect a tree whose bark had been clawed apart. "Amateurs. Should've picked a better name."

_"Doesn't that mean anything to you?!"_

His laughter only intensified, leaving her to duck under the next branch herself. She glowered angry golden daggers at the blond's broad shoulders; trying to burn a hole through his back with them alone. Every Faunus worth their salt knew his deeds, even if many had never seen his face. The twin shields he wore at his wrists merely confirmed her earlier suspicions. She didn't even know if Naruto was his real his name, but she knew what the Fang called him to make her own assumptions.

_Desert Storm._

Not quite a gentleman thief, but not some mindless thug either. A daring burglar His crimes were many, but unlike Adam, he'd never taken a life. She didn't have any proof. But she'd suspected and he'd made no effort to deny it. It was enough to make her want to melt back into the shadows and hide. So much for her new life. She was associating with a wanted criminal now. How long would it be until others made the connection, realized just what she was trying to hide? Her past seemed determined to hound her everywhere she went.

"Cat got your tongue?" Naruto's voice called up ahead of her. "You've been quiet for awhile now. That's unlike you."

Blake growled and bulled on ahead of him. Rather, she tried to until an arm shot out to bar her path.

She glowered bloody red daggers at its owner. "Will you stop being a-

When that same hand slammed over her mouth and yanked her behind a tree, her fist instinct was to panic. Fear compelled her to cry out, but even that noise was muffled against Naruto's palm. She glared up at him, but those mirthful blue eyes were chips of ice now, cold and hard and focused. Naruto raised a finger to his lips. He shook his head slowly and she saw his mouth move, though no sound emerged. It was easy enough to read them. She soon wished she hadn't.

_"Don't move."_

Blake didn't get a chance to ask why not; she heard it before she saw it. A great dark shape easily three times their height lumbered through the Emerald Forest ahead of them, swaying and lurching. She caught a flash of white bone against the black and her heart skipped a beat. Grimm? It...didn't look right. She'd seen her fair share of minor Grimm before -even killed a few- but there was something off about this one. Before she could ascertain what it was the beast paused, sniffed once at the air, and moved on.

"There." Naruto released her as it bounded away. "Its gone."

Blake pawed at his hand. "What the hell was that?! Warn me next time!"

"Probably a Beowolf." Naruto slumped against a tree. "Big one, too. We're better off avoiding it."

Abruptly, the canopy above them shook as something landed miles above them. Both faunus froze. An unfamiliar shrieked pierced the sky as whatever it was took off again and a cold downdraft assailed them. Blake felt a cold bead of sweat run down her brow as she released a breath she hadn't even known she was holding. "And _that?"_

"Something bigger." her partner thumbed his chin as he regarded the trees above with bleak look. "Nevermore by the sound of it. Something we want no part of. I don't know about you, but I'm no good when it comes to aerial Grimm."

Was this forest full of giant Grimm or something?!

Blake looked down and saw her ribbon still held in his fist. Saw her chance. He was distracted by the trees. Moreover, he wasn't paying the least attention to her. Nothing ventured, nothing gained! She dove for it while he was looking away; and against all odds, succeeded. This time she somehow managed to wrap her fingers around the tail end of the thin material. The moment she did, she yanked on it with all her might. It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Enough!" Naruto batted the hand away and rounded on her with a hiss as he held it out of her grasp. "We've got giant Grimm about and you're still after this thing?! Where are your priorities!"

_"Its mine!" _she cried!

"You're right." the smile he flashed her was colder than winter itself. "Lets do something about that."

Before she could think to stop him he stepped back and seized the thin strip of fabric between both hands. An ominous ripping sound filled Blake's ears as he snapped the ribbon taut. No. He wouldn't. Surely he couldn't be that cruel. Even as she stepped forward to stop him, it was too late. She could only cry out.

"No! Don't!"

Naruto tore her ribbon -what was left of it- to shreds before her very eyes. Blake felt something tear inside herself with the ruined cloth. It was just a ribbon, she told herself. She could always get another one. By then it would be too late. She'd be seen by the rest of the first years and outed as a Faunus. She knew what would come after. It would be just the same as it always was. Because of this. Because of him.

"There." he patted his hands, leaving the torn shreds to settle at her feet. "Lets see you wear it now, coward."

_Coward._

Without so much as a backward glance he stormed away. Still, that last word struck Blake like a slap in the face and she hesitated, if only for a moment. She'd been called worse -far worse!- during her time with the Fang, but those words still stung all the same. Even more so coming from someone outside it.

Her anger ignited.

"Why are you like this?!" She shouted at his back.

"ME?!" Quick as a flash he rounded on her, ears twitching. "I'm not the one hiding who I am!"

Her own flattened in response. "That's not...!"

"Blake Belladonna? Really? How obvious can you be?!" He snapped his teeth at her, eliciting another flinch from the younger Faunus. "If you know me, then just about _every Faunus alive_ knows your last name. You didn't even try to disguise yourself. Not really. A bow? Come on, now! Did you think that would work?!"

"And look at you!" she rammed her forehead against his with a hiss, standing on her tiptoes just to reach him. "You didn't even try to change your appearance!"

"I used a more subtle approach. But you're right." he leaned back, leaving her startled with his reply. "I could have. But I didn't. Do you know why?"

Tremulously, she shook her head.

"Unlike you, I'm _proud_ of my life." the whiskered youth jabbed a thumb at his chest, his words cracked at her like a whip. "I have no regrets. If I see injustice or something I don't like, I'll act first and ask questions later. Consequences be damned. If anyone is bullied in front of me, human or faunus, I'm gonna break that bully's legs. Eye for an eye. Tooth for a tooth. That's how I work." He really was just like Adam. No, he was worse. Adam slaughtered the enemies of the White Fang. Naruto clearly left his wishing for death. He left them humiliated and broken...just like Cardin.

"You can't do that!" she said as much, for what little good it did her.

"Can." He poked her forehead, forcing her back a step. "Am. Will." Get used to it, princess." Another poke, another retreat. "You only get one life in this rotten world, so make the most of it." her back hit a tree and he all but pinned her there with his gaze." Now get off your high horse, stop running, and fight for what you believe in. Isn't that what the White Fang does?"

"I'm not...!"

"You are." Naruto paused, frowned, reconsidered his words as he considered another savaged tree. "Or at the very least, you were. Used to be. You have that air about you." Realization dawned in his eyes and the weight behind his gaze threatened to bury her alive. "I get it now. Why else would someone like Adam Freaking Taurus come to Beacon like this. He came to retrieve someone. _You."_

She took a step backward. "Are you...working with him?"

"Why would I? I'm a freak." he scoffed, tail thrashing angrily against his back. "Nine out of ten Faunus come into this world with a single animal trait. Me? I wound up with two. Three if you count the whiskers." his ears, human and faunus alike, twitched as he stared her down. "If that weren't enough, there's the matter of my birth. My mother -_my own flesh and blood!-_ died bringing me into this world." he shrugged, uncaring of her flinch. "My father couldn't bear to look at me after that. He finally threw me out into the streets a few years later. Do you have any idea what that's like to live like that? Do you even care? No."

Turning his head, he spat at her feet.

"We're nothing alike, Blake." he shook his head. "Em and I chose to leave the life of a thief behind because we'd made enemies. Fear had nothing to do with it. The stakes were getting too high, and we wanted something better than what we had, so we left. We never lied to ourselves. Never deceived each other. We knew exactly what we were getting into." he jammed both thumbs into his belt and frowned at her. "If this falls through, it'll be a disappointment, but it won't be the end of our world. We'll just have to...make a career change."

"You'll go back to being thieves." she flung the words at him.

"We won't like it," he batted the words away with a bitter smile, "But we have to make a living."

"Then you're no better a common criminal!" At that remark, his eyes turned to slits and she thought he might slap her.

"There it is." Incredibly, he smiled and shook his head. "That's the look. I've seen it for years in face after face in the streets of Vacuo."

In a flash, Naruto moved.

"Stop running from your past, damnit!" Blake realized her peril too late; by then he'd already seized her by the shoulders. Now he gave her a firm shake. "Face it head on! Grab it by the horns if you have to! I know its hard for you. I know it hurts!" when she tried to speak out and shout him down, he snarled her into silence. "Listen to me! If you keep going as you are now, your're going to regret it! If you can't get over what you've done, then commit to it! Strangle that guilt holding you back, raise your head high and walk forward!"

"I can't!" she railed back, slapping his chest. "I'm not a monster! Unlike you, I _regret_ the things I've done!"

"Oh. Monster, am I? the blond reared back as if she'd slapped him and his scowl turned to a bitter smile. "Perhaps you should speak to me more softly, then. Monsters are dangerous. You'd happily damn me for the deeds I've done, condemn me for the crimes you THINK I've committed, but your hands are just as bloody as mine." his finger jabbed her shoulder and she recoiled with a hiss. "If not moreso!"

"That's not...I didn't...

"Men fear monsters, don't they?" still he advanced, bulldozing her protests. "And not just men, but women and children too. Even OUR kind run from them. Fear them. Dread them. And you believe you know what it is to be a monster, hmm? So you've taken a few lives and feel bad about it. Tough." her wrist lashed at him and he caught, stalling the slap before it could strike. "See?! You tried to hit me for it! Hypocrite! You'll gladly run away from your past, but you won't face it!" he flung her arm away. "There are worse things than death. Far worse! Get over yourself!"

A lone ice blue iris regarded her over his shoulder.

"You have no idea what a monster is, Blake. Follow me. I'm going to show you."

_...and if I refuse?"_

"That's on you." his shoulders rose and fell in a huff. "Follow, or don't. You're a hot mess, and I shouldn't have to fix you...but I'm gonna try."

Blake wasn't sure if that was supposed to comfort her or not. She dragged herself after him. They walked on in bitter silence for what felt like hours. In reality, she was sure only a few minutes had passed.

Finally, Naruto spoke again.

"I'm not sorry about what I said." he said haltingly, choosing his words with great care as they broke through the brush and found the path once more, "You might think me cruel-but it's the truth. I'm not saying the White Fang is full of saints, but sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in. Nothing will change if you just stand there and turn the other cheek."

"I did fight." she took her lips between her teeth. "I'm _tired_ of fighting."

"You never stop fighting. Naruto countered sagely as he led them deeper into the thicket. "From the moment you take your first breath in this world to your last, you're always fighting for something. Be it food, water, or even companionship. Y'see, the trick is finding something to believe in, something you love, someone you'd die for...

Blue eyes turned to regard her._ Widened. _"Duck!"

Blake obeyed without thinking and not a moment took soon. A rush of warm air passed perilously close to her head as one Naruto's shields whipped past, followed by a bestial howl. One far too close for her liking. Against her better judgement the younger Faunus turned and found the source.

She tumbled backward with a yelp when she found the weapon buried in the white skull of a Beowolf, its jaws poised perilously close to take a bite right out of her shoulder. No longer. The creature collapsed with a wet gurgle at her feet and dissolved into harmless ash. She hadn't even heard it coming. Was she really that distracted?

"You alright?"

Golden eyes blinked rapidly as concerned blue orbs swelled before them. Between one moment and the next Naruto had appeared beside her. Now he offered her his hand as he bent down to retrieve his fallen shield. He could've let her die. But he hadn't. Why? She sucked in a small, ragged breath and clamped a hand down on his arm, allowing herself to be hoisted to her feet.

"Have you killed Grimm before?" he was looking at her as though she were glass, afraid she might shatter at any moment. She loahted it.

"Of course I have." her cheeks burned as she batted his hands away. "I was just...caught off guard. That's all."

"That unusual." Naruto muttered. "Not you," he amended casually at her heated glance. "Grimm don't sneak up on people like that. The regular ones usually just howl and bray and run dead at you. Even the crabs back in Vacuo didn't really ambush you unless you walked right over their lair. Well, the spiders did, but that's to be expected, I guess...

"Crabs?" Blake felt her gut twist. _"Spiders?"_

"Big ones." Naruto added with a nod, heedless of her growing terror. "They'd jump right out of the sand and wham!" a fist smacked into an open palm. "If you weren't careful you'd be dragged right under."

"I don't think I want to see Vacuo." Blake whimpered. "_Ever."_

"Hmm. Don't blame you." he grinned, and for the first time, she found herself almost mirroring it. "Nobody likes Vacuo. Don't look now, but we've got more company."

Blake followed his gaze and found a pair of Ursua, Minor and Greater alike, lumbering out of the brush only a few yards ahead. Unlike the odd Beowolf of before, these two made no such attempts at subterfuge. They saw them and charged forward, braying all the while.

She broke off to engage the smaller of the pair, used her Semblance to evade its first swipe, and subsequently dispatched it with a quick slice across the throat. Quick and efficient, not a single motion wasted on her part.

Naruto dove at the big one, eyes burning red.

_"I call dibs!"_

To its credit, the Ursa saw him coming and reacted accordingly; for all the good it did. Rather than take its mighty claw on one of his shields the blond let glance harmlessly off his Aura and leaped at the beast. Unprepared for such a suicidal maneuver, the Grimm wasn't able to react until he clamored onto its back. By then, it was too late.

Tan palms clamped down on the ghastly white spines protruding from its back and held tight.

"What are you doing?!" Blake balked.

Naruto didn't answer her with words, but deeds. That ghastly glow in those now-amber orbs roared ever higher, alight with some inner flame. The beast must've sensed something amiss; because its struggles intensified tenfold. Still Naruto clung on, riding the bear like a bucking bronco. His eyes burned a bloody scarlet now, sharp and slitted, his lips parted in an almost rapturous expression.

Blake started forward, Gambol Shroud in hand. Her charge died when she saw his body begin to burn red.

Enraged beyond measure, the Ursa reared up and tried to crush Naruto against a tree, but the blond merely twisted his body out of the way, planted his feet on its back, and pulled.

And the Grimm began to slow.

* * *

_(.0.0.0.)_

* * *

Ozpin blinked down at the Scroll in his hand.

Once.

Twice.

Then thrice.

"Well." he frowned. "I didn't expect this."

Glynda looked over his shoulder and her face turned absolutely ashen. Ozpin didn't blame her; had he a mirror, he expected his face would've been a similar shade of white right about now. It was like watching something out of a horror movie; you wanted to look away -and he did!- but you just couldn't bring yourself to avert your eyes from the disaster unfolding before you. How strange. He'd chosen to watch the boy on a whim and here, in this moment, he almost pitied the blond's prey. That...did not look like a pleasant death.

Still, this was incredible...and terrifying. Such a power could not be squandered.

Though it hurt his heart to say it, Beacon _needed_ such a gift.

"Sir," his lieutenant whispered, "Is he...?

His lips turned down in a grimace.

"Killing it, yes."

* * *

_(.0.0.0.)_

* * *

The Ursa was dying.

It was the work of minutes rather than moments, but with each passing second that Blake stood by, she watched the beast grew weaker. Little by little its throes diminished. Dark fur turned coarse and grey. Muscles atrophied as its body became old and brittle like so much rotten driftwood. And still her partner didn't relent. He took and took and took until the beast had nothing left to give. Until it collapsed, legs folding beneath its burly bulk. Those ghastly red eyes closed, never to open again.

Naruto rode its corpse the ground with a small sigh and smacked his lips. "Thanks for the meal."

A beat of awkward silence pushed itself between the two Faunus once more.

"What was that?!" Blake backpedaled, her mouth open in a small round "O" of muted confusion as she watched her partner dismount the decaying corpse. That wasn't his Semblance. No. It couldn't be. She'd seen it last night; his was a teleportation type -at least she assumed it was- used to move short distances at a rapid pace. This...what the hell was this?! He'd drained that Ursa dry, like a tall glass of water. It had taken him some time and no small amount of effort, sure, but still!

He flashed her a wan smile. "I could ask you the same thing. Was that a clone Semblance?"

"Don't distract me! Y-You can't have two Semblances." she babbled, taking three steps back. "Its not possible. Not natural."

"You're right, in a technical sense." he paused to roll his right shoulder with an audible pop. "I was born with only one Semblance. I _gained_ another."

Blake didn't like the implications of that sentence, least of all his tone. He was being mysterious, the bastard. Her keen might caught the hints he'd left and made the connection.

Gained. He'd said gained. That implied that he hadn't had the second Semblance; hadn't been born with it. Could he steal Semblances, then? And if so, how? It all made a twisted sort of sense. No wonder the Headmaster was willing to overlook Naruto's crimes. He wanted him here, in Beacon. Badly. A gift like that could change the world. Or destroy it. She shuddered and hugged her arms close to her chest as a chill swept through her. How pragmatic. Adam would kill for a gift like that. So would the rest of the world.

"Why tell me this?" she asked. "Why tell me anything all?"

"Because no one will ever believe you?" Naruto tilted his head, then laughed when she blanched. "That aside, I decided to make a point. Both to you, and whomever might be watching us." he pointedly looked up at where another camera was no doubt concealed. "Earlier, you called me a monster." when he strode forward Blake near shrank back. "Think how many people I could've killed with this. How many I _haven't_ killed. Remember that before you judge me."

He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Now hold still."

His hand pulsed red again, but rather than pain, she experienced a sudden rush of vitality; as if she'd drank a cup of coffee. _Several_ cups.

"Death is a cycle." Naruto replied as she looked on in quiet awe. "It gives and it takes away." Red eyes faded back to their true blue and lanced into her gold. "Healing is a part of that. I choose what to do with the energy I take. I can hoard it all of it for myself, or I can use it in the service of others."

...I don't understand you." she pulled away with a small shiver.

"You wouldn't be the first. Maybe I was a better person in my first life?" he shook his head. "I get that feeling sometimes. I really do. But Grimm deserve no mercy. I'll use any and every advantage I have against them."

Blake opened her mouth to retort to that effect...!

"Aha! There you are!" A low, annoyed voice plucked the words right off her tongue. "I thought I heard your voice! Where the hell have you been?! Were you hidin' or something?!"

For the first time since she'd met him, Naruto's blue eyes sparked with true life once again. He rounded on the sound, for it came from behind them.

_"That's my line!"_

Emerald burst out of the undergrowth ahead of them, eyes narrow and cheeks flush with emotion. Said eyes fixed on Naruto and widened. Narrowed again. The thief didn't move. She bolted. There was a subtle sway in the older girl's hips when she approached them, an almost lazy-yet-tense gait that could morph into a dead sprint at the slightest provocation. Her own smile mirrored Naruto's in its intensity; no it burned brighter still; like a child finding a long lost friend.

He met her halfway.

Emerald all but crashed into him and buried her face in his chest with a sound that vaguely resembled a sigh. Tan arms wrapped around his waist like a lasso and held on for dear life. For his part the blond didn't make an effort to escape her embrace, even if he could. He simply laid his chin atop her head and patted her back. Blake flushed and looked away as he spoke.

"Did you think I'd run away or something?"

"Shut up." Emerald growled into his jacket. "Idiot. Stupid. I hate you."

"Missed you too." he hummed, planting a chaste kiss against her forehead. She grumbled on and held tighter.

All the while, Blake watched them with increasing discomfort. There was no degree of deference between the two of them. They were partners. Equals in all things. Perhaps even lovers. Oddly enough, the thought hurt. It reminded her of Adam. Witnessing such a display made her feel like an outsider. No, she _was_ one, intruding on their moment like this.

As if sensing that very thought, Emerald finally noticed her. "Hey, who's the kid?"

"Just a tag-along." Naruto answered a little too quickly. "Well, we kinda...

"He's my partner." Blake hated to say it, but she knew she was better off with these two than Adam or Illia. They wouldn't understand. They'd just drag her back to the Fang. She wasn't going back. Not now, not ever. What was the saying the humans used? Better the devil that didn't kill than the one that did? Wait, that wasn't it...

"Fine." Emerald smiled and it was all teeth. "I haven't made eye contact with anyone else myself. Guess that makes him my partner, too."

"Huh." Naruto blinked. "Bit of a technicality, but that works, doesn't it?"

"That's not how the rules work!" Blake protested.

The two thieves laughed.

_"Nobody caaaares~!"_

* * *

_(.0.0.0.)_

* * *

_Where was everyone?_

Try as he might, Cardin Winchester hadn't seen so much as a single soul in the last hour.

Not since that damn Fox at any rate.

Just the thought of him made his blood boil anew. His fist tightened around the haft of his mace as he used it to mow down a web of vines in his path. All the while, an angry ember of rage continued to burn in the back of his mind. Bloody bunny lover. This was all his fault. Well! He'd show him. Him _and _all those freaks. He'd just been caught off guard last time. Yeah. That was it. None of this was his fault. It was all bad luck. Everyone was out to get him. He almost believed it.

His launch pad had been one of the first to go off; that alone should've guaranteed him a spot in the upper echelons.

Instead he'd been knocked on his ass and left to fend for himself. Damn fox. He'd make him pay. Now where the hell were his boys? It was quiet here without them. Too quiet. Freaked him right out, it did.

A twig snapped behind him.

Cardin jumped and rounded on the sound. "Dove? Sky? That you?"

Leaves rustled all around him, shifting and bending in the wind. "Russell? You there?"

Somewhere ahead of him he heard a tree creak ominously; as if someone had knocked it down. Or something.

"C'mon guys," a note of high panic etched itself into the boy's voice as he looked around for its source. "This shit ain't funny!"

Bulling ahead, he made for the first open area he could find, silently praying that it would be the ruin the old man had mentioned. Freaking headmaster.

Daylight burst through the trees as he broke free from the branches. A delighted gasp stole its way out of him; with the encroaching branches now behind him, Cardin felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He was just being paranoid. There was nothing to be afraid of here. The Emerald Forest was dangerous, sure, but so was he! He was fearless! He was mighty! He had a freaking two-handed mace for crying out loud!

Something wet and cloying sucked against his boot.

"The hell?" the burly teen lifted his foot, frowned at it, and moved on toward the ruin.

At first, Cardin didn't understand what he was looking at in the distance; if only because the glade before him was a mess of torn earth and dirt. Strange shapes lay scattered about at odd angles, and he didn't understand what they were...at first. A silent pang of dread stole over him as he approached. Why were their crows in the sky? Were those even crows at all? Upon closer inspection, he recognized the shapes. They were bodies. Dead bodies.

They'd been slaughtered to a man. Not just them, but one or two of the other applicants too, men he didn't recognize.

_"What the shit?!"_

Three of them, he knew. Sky's head had been plucked right off his shoulders and spirited away, leaving his ruined body for the crows. Dove was clutching at what might have been his stomach...before something had torn it open. Rusell-urk. Oh Gods. Cardin couldn't even look at him. They'd died hard, all three of them. They'd died fighting. And he hadn't been there.

Cardin turned and vomited his breakfast into the grass, a lurid green puddle spreading beneath them. He looked up and heaved again.

They weren't strong. No, scratch that. He wasn't strong enough. What had he been thinking, coming to Beacon a year early?! They weren't ready for something like this. It was his fault. All his fault. He'd been the one to pressure his dad, who had in turn put pressure to Ozpin. They'd all wanted to be Huntsmen so very badly- to be big damn heroes...and now his friends had paid the price for his folly.

A low howl echoed through the woods. It was soon taken up by another.

Another still.

_Another. _

_Each louder than the last._

Monstrous eyes followed him from the grove he'd left behind, one pair larger than the rest. Far larger.

Something impossibly huge loped out of the thicket and into the clearing ahead of him. It was big, far bigger than any Beowolf had any right to be, easily eclipsing his on all fours. Hideous green spikes jutted from its back like porcupine quills as hideous slitted green eyes roved about the grove. Damned thing didn't look right. There was some ghastly metal bladed thing attached to one of its hind legs that seemed to drag behind it, tearing a deep furrow into the ground as it walked. Looked like it had been welded on by some madman. But that wasn't what captured his attention.

Cardin gulped. "You...you bastard...!"

If its bloody snout and stained claws didn't confirm his suspicions already, Russell's arm did all that and more. He could even see the boy's long daggers jutting out of the beast's back, alongside Dove's shortsword and the ruined shaft of Sky's halberd with a number of others. As he looked on the gigantic creature tossed its head back and swallowed the mangled limb whole. This monster, this bastard, this _thing _had murdered his friends. His team. If he stood his ground here -alone!- it would undoubtedly do the same to him.

It saw him, then. O r perhaps it heard him. Who could say. Regardless, it made a chuffing sound that might've been laughter. Bullshit. Everyone knew that Grimm didn't laugh...right?

**"Little pig...little pig...little pig...**

Oh what fresh hell was this?! Grimm didn't -couldn't!- talk at all! So why was this one speaking?!

Cardin's palms grew slick with sweat, and his mace suddenly felt like a lead weight in his hands; his armor, a heavy weight dragging him down. To his dismay, more of the creature's pack emerged from the trees and still, his legs failed him. One after the other they padded forward, until he could no longer count them. No. He couldn't die here. He had to avenge his friends. But he couldn't do it alone. He knew that. Strength meant nothing against these numbers. And yet if he ran, they'd run him down in a matter of minutes, if not sooner.

The lead Beowolf threw back its head and loosed a mighty howl that rattled the air itself.

What little remained of Cardin's resolve broke._ He scarpered._

_And the pack gave chase._

**A/N: READ THIS LEST YE BE CONFUSED!**

**Little Blake stole the show here, but the next chapter will blow this one right out of the water.**

**This story's all about choices and consequences and the fate of Dove, Rusell, and Sky was a direct result of that. They weren't ready for Beacon and paid the price. ****Hope you're all picking up the hints I'm putting down here. ****Seems someone's been messing about with the Grimm too...gee...I wonder who it could be.**

** His name starts with M. You get three guesses. First two don't count.**

**Now then! Last chance to cast your votes for the teams~!**

**Because as of next chapter, we're moving on. I've already got a number of drafts -several thousand words worth- written up, but I felt I should give folks one final chance to voice their opinions on the direction of this story. As I warned earlier, the**** choices HAVE since been narrowed down, but I'm still open to suggestions.**

**So to make things simple, lets list the current partner known pairs -Not For Romance!- and the potential outcomes.**

**Emerald hasn't found herself a partner yet, but she's obviously called dibs on Naruto.**

**The only seen pair here, as far as partners go, is Naruto and Blake.**

**To say anything more would spoil things.**

**I've got some team names in mind, but I'm interested to hear what others think. We've got**** enough for three teams here, leaving Cardin the odd man out. He'll still be going to Beacon, albeit not at all in the way one might expect. ****Sadly, most of team CRDL didn't make it. Cardin did. I don't recall there being a rule against a single graduate. And there we go!**

**As ever, lack of reviews murder my inspiration. If folks don't review, I tend to think they don't like a story, you know?**

**So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...**

**...Revieeew... Would You Kindly?**

**They keeps an old man alive.**

**And enjoy the previews!**

_**SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!**_

_**READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!  
**_

_**PLOT DETAILS AHOY!**_

_**(Preview)**_

**_"Little...pigs..._**

_Naruto glowered up at the Beowolf._

_"Careful." Cinder's voice brushed his ear. "Its faster than it looks."_

_"I'm not worried about that...why the hell can this thing talk!? Grimm don't talk!"_

_She shrugged helplessly. "If you can buy me time, I should be able to finish it off. Just be careful. You're of no use to me dead."_

_"And here I thought you cared."_

_She slapped his arm. "Be quiet and get ready."_

_Much to his annoyance, the giant abomination glowered right back at the ot of them. Size or no, it was outnumbered; sanity or not, it had to know that. Yet still it stared them down, unafraid, confident even. He heard his allies draw their weapons behind him, felt Pyrrha tense against his side, favoring her good legt. Coco was only a heartbeat behind with Blake and the rest. She wouldn't even look at Adam and Illia, nor they here. That was going to be an awful mess to fix once they were done, but for now, he was more concerned with this towering creature._

_From her perch in the trees above, Emerald drew a sharp breath. _

_She whistled harshly._

_"Now!" She shouted. "Go go go!"_

_Together, the students absolutely blitzed the beast._

* * *

_"C'mon, Whiskers!" Coco clicked her tongue. "We don't have all day. Make your choice already! Who you are Blake gonna work with?!"_

_Emerald turned pleading eyes on him. __"You can't be serious. Its not even a choice...right?"_

_It was like an arrow in the heart. Urk!_

* * *

_"Wake up."_

* * *

_"Ha! Our team's the best!"_

_"Oh? That sounds like a challenge. Shall we make a game of it, then?"_

* * *

_Ozpin steepled his fingers and laid his chin atop them. "By all means, enlighten me. What, precisely, does your Semblance do?"_

_"Well, its hard to explain." Naruto scratched a whiskered cheek. "I mean, given what it can do, I thought about calling it All For One, but it felt like that would too on the nose, for some reason. Reaper's Touch just sounded way more badass at the time and-ow!"_

_Emerald slapped the back of his head. "Ignore that, he's being an ass."_

_"Quite." The headmaster sighed. "Continue..._

**R&R~!**


	6. Release the Beast

**A/N: **_**PLEASE READ THIS NOTE, WOULD YOU KINDLY?**_

**This chapter was torture to write while in recovery. TORTURE.**

**Owowowowowow surgery hurts. Not fun. Not at all. I feel like crap, so I apologize if this isn't up to my usual standards.**

**Trolls and threats all over the reviews yet again. Ignore 'em. Or laugh at them. That's what I'll be doing from now on. I've gotten some good news after all this surgery nonsense and it makes all of their nastiness small by comparison. ****The good news is...well...private. Lets just say my career has taken a sudden turn for the better. ****At the end of the day, this is a hobby. I don't get paid for any of this. I'm not going to let death threats drag me down.**

**Just a reminder, this IS the Naruto we all know and love; he's simply been reincarnated in a new body. If he gets his memories back...hoo boy...**

**Once again, this is a YEAR before the events of Volume One. As such, Blake and Pyrrha haven't quite come into their own just yet.**

**But little Blake finds her spine in this chapter...and it was a glorious thing to write. Now, then!**

**No long author's note this time around; we don't want to detract from the chapter.**

**As ever we own no quotes, references, themes or memes!**

**So in lieu of a wordy author's note...**_**readysetgo!**_

_"We are all of us, beasts. Oh, s__ome Hunters may choose to act civilized. __They'll deny who they are, put on airs, pretend to be something that they're not. They restrict themselves outside of combat, restrain their impulses, curb their own true nature. They settle down. Start a family. They take all those instincts and bottle them up day after day__...until one day..._

_One day bottle cracks and__ they give into their desires. They run amok among the populace, taking what they can, wherever they can, reaping lives like so much wheat._

_What's wrong with that? Let the strong live. And the weak die."_

_~Merlot._

**Release the Beast**

_Blake heard the howl first._

It was a decidedly shrill sound, one that laid the poor girl's ears flat against her head. There seemed to be no end to it; echoing on and on behind them, before being taken up by another and another. Each cry echoed in the distance, long and lilting, as though a dozen voices were crying out in unison.

"Hoo boy," Nauto grimaced, pausing to peel back a branch for her and Emerald to duck under, "That sounded close. We better keep moving."

The younger faunus scurried after the two thieves, shadowing their every movement for fear of being left behind. She didn't want to be alone in this forest now. Not after hearing...that. It was close. Too close. Golden eyes flitted this way and that, half-expecting a Grimm to come crashing out of the trees at any moment. When none came, she found herself stressed all the more. It wasn't helped when said thieves exchanged a worried look between themselves.

"Beowolf?" Emerald posited.

"Sounds like a whole pack of them." Naruto retorted. "Better keep moving before we get bogged down."

Someone screamed again. Louder than before. This time, it sounded almost human.

Blake grimaced against it. "Aren't we going to do something?"

Naruto flicked a reluctant glance over his shoulder.

"No." Emerald shot Blake's hopes down before they could truly take flight. "If we double back now, we won't be able to get a relic in time. You know that, Naruto."

"Suppose you're right." he sighed and moved on. "Its a pity, but we can't save everyone, Blake.

The little Faunus stomped after him with a scowl. "I thought you helped people!"

"We're thieves, not heroes." Her partner hastened his stride, forcing her to jog after him and Emerald lest she be left behind. "We can't save everyone."

A muscle jumped in her jaw and harsh words leaped to her lips, ready to explode into the air. It took all she had just to choke them down. Calling him out for this would only make her seem a hypocrite. At the end of the day she'd come to Beacon to hide, not to stand out. Still, to leave someone to the Grimm like that...it smacked of cruelty. She didn't liek it.

Another shout went up, far closer than the last. "That sounded like Cardin...

"Then nothing of value will be lost." Just like that, any trace of compassion vanished from the blond's eyes. "There's no helping that one. Trust me, I speak from experience."

"But...!"

"Say we did double back to help him and his friends." Emerald skirted around a fallen tree and held up a finger. "Do you think Cardin would thank you for it? No." she shook her head. "Putting aside the fact that he's a big oaf, Cardin hates Faunus; loathes anyone seen working with them. I know his type."

"Probably has something to do with his father, that." Naruto sidled up beside her, guarding her flank. "Do you really want to give up your chance at becoming a huntress for someone like him?"

Blake flinched anew and her ears drooped again.

It hurt to admit it, but Naruto had a point. The Winchester name was infamous for all the wrong reasons. His family had fought in the War, after all. That alone lent them something of a reputation, nevermind what she'd already seen of the brash boy thus far. Low profile or no, Cardin hadn't made the best impression on her.

"Besides," Emerald saw her weakness and pounced like the thief she was. "Ozpin and the other teachers are watching. They wouldn't let a potential student die on their watch, right?"

"I suppose-

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

A shrieking blur of blood and dented metal tore out of nowhere to shoulder-barge Blake from behind, sending her spinning into Naruto. Her fellow Faunus caught her quickly, but before he had a chance to so much as blink at her attacker they shot past, screaming bloody murder. In a moment they were gone, crashing through the undergrowth with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball.

Emerald twitched. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Was that Cardin...?"

"Was it?" Naruto helped Blake to her feet with a shrug. "Didn't get a good look at him. Why was he running...?

An ear-splitting snarl perforated the forest.

Naruto raised his shield and Emerald drew her sickles with a put-upon groan. "You just had to ask!"

This time Blake heard the Grimm coming long before she saw the beast; if only because it was impossible to miss.

A great hulking beast burst through the brush, snorting loudly as it searched in vain for its victim. Failing to find Cardin, it bounded in their direction instead, prior prey all but forgotten. This one wasn't normal either, for reasons Blake couldn't understand. Ghastly green spines jutted from its back and its sickly green eyes -they weren't supposed to be that color!- burned with an overwhelming hunger. She could see the hate in its gaze, a seething desire to rip and tear all that lived, and something in her shrank back from it.

She watched its jaw work wordlessly as it crept closer. Almost as if it were trying to...talk. Nonsense. Grimm didn't talk. She was imagining things.

Naruto saw her fear and pushed her back. "Hey, just let us handle this one alright? Its alright if you're still a little spooked."

Blake hated herself for such weakness, yet nodded all the same.

"Left?" Naruto asked, flicking a look at Emerald.

His partner rolled her eyes and jabbed his sight. "Right."

Together, the thieves absolutely _surged_ forward in flawless unison.

For reasons Blake didn't understand the Beowolf went for Naruto first; perhaps it was the bright colors he wore, or perhaps it was simply a matter of proximity. She couldn't be sure. Regardless, the whiskered warrior was more than prepared. He met the beast head on and caught a clawed paw on one shield like the tank she'd come to think of him. He latched out with the other and caught its other limb before it could draw back and attack him again. Moments later, a faint red miasma began to bleed from his right arm as he drained his prey. Blake recognized his Semblance.

The Grimm, unfortunately, did not, and struggled fruitlessly in his grasp.

Naruto smacked his lips. "Thanks for the meal, big guy."

His free fist swung back like a piston and slammed into the Grimm's gut with a horrible crunch, bending the beast double. From there, he latched onto his right arm with both hands and ripped it away. Grimm didn't bleed as living creature did, but they still felt pain. True to form, this one howled in mindless rage and lashed out with its remaining paw. Rather than evade, Naruto turned and raised his remaining shield to intercept, allowing it to flail uselessly against him, to no avail. Even from here, Blake saw his blue eyes dance with devilish light as he tanked the storm of blows.

So focused was the beast on its prey that it failed to notice Emerald creeping up on its flank.

The Grimm certainly _noticed_ when a chained sickle swept around its throat.

Glowing eyes bulged for all of a moment before the green-haired thief landed on its back and unloaded her weapons into its spine. Even then the Grimm didn't go down; it only thrashed in agony and howled anew as it sought to rip her head off. Emerald did not dodge; no, she _danced_ out of the way, tumbled down its back with deadly grace, and used the chain to yank it down again. Bereft of balance, the beast came crashing down to earth; where a smiling Naruto awaited with all the patience of a stalking fox.

_It didn't last long after that._

With a grim smile the berserker stepped in, smacked the Grimm down with a shield when it tried to rise, and brought two empowered fists crashing down on the beast's skull. Dark fur and white bone yielded like so much putty, creating an awful crack. Blake felt something tiny quail in her at as Grimm's corpse began to dissolve.

That hadn't been a fight. It was an execution.

"Heh. We've still got it." Naruto raised a hand and Emerald stepped forward to slap her palm against his. "One and done." he clicked his tongue. "See, Blake?" he turned to face her. "Nothing to worry about here. What did I tell...you...

All around them, the brush began to stir; countless glowing eyes surveyed them from the treeline.

Emerald hissed through her teeth. "Change of plans, kitty-kat. Run. Now."

"What-

_"Just run!"_

Blake yelped as Naruto spun, gave her a shove and urged her onward. A dark shape lunged at him when she turned her back and he ducked beneath a claw larger than his head. The blond plucked something from his belt and flung it down on the ground between them. Against her better judgement, Blake turned away.

Even then the flashbang left her sensitive ears ringing.

"Go, go, go!" Emerald urged her forward, voice muffled in the chaos.

Too little too late, something emerged from the trees ahead of them, cutting their retreat off.

As far as Grimm went, these were even larger then the last and just as warped, bigger than anything she'd seen. Worse, they didn't look...right. All green and black and twisted, their ghastly bodies seemed to shimmer with unnatural light as they shambled towards them. More came after. Many more. Too many.

"Outmaneuvered by Grimm." Naruto groused. "Coco's never going to let us hear the end of this."

"What now?" Emerald whispered.

"I'll draw their attention." Blue eyes burned red again. "You two scatter."

"Wait, you're not going to...?!"

Swinging his arms, the blond stalked forward.

"C'mere, ya filthy mutts!" a rough edge overtook his words as his body began to shimmer. "I'll make a meal out of ya!"

One swing of an empowered arm sheared through the skull of a Beowolf's who dared creep too close; on the backswing he caught a second wolf by the leg and whipped it forward into its fellows, sending them sprawling like a bunch of broken bowling pins.

"Is that all?!" his voice rose in a taunt. "I thought you lot were Grimm, not puppies!"

Another leaped at him and he caught it on his shield, levering its bulk into the ground. Scarlet eyes burned with deathly flames as he stomped its skull to mud. His hand shot out, found another Grimm by the throat, and latched on. It shriveled in his grasp and his muscles pulsed with fresh life. Casting its corpse aside, he stalked forward, banging his shields together. His very being seemed to shimmer with crimson light now, almost as if it were a living thing, like a shroud, no, a cloak of some sort. Still, he slammed his shields together.

Every Grimm turned toward him as one.

"That's right, you sonuvabitches!" he boomed a laugh. "Here!" He banged his shields together once more. "Right here! Come and get me if you think you're hard enough!"

Sure enough, the rest closed in on him. Naruto threw himself at them like a madman, swinging and striking, ripping and tearing.

"That's his Semblance acting up again." Emerald sighed as Blake balked. "He tends to go berserk when it comes to situations like this." Drawing her weapons once more, she waded into the fray after him, her body already beginning to blur. "Go on. You're not ready for a fight like this, yet. We'll catch up with you."

She hesitated.

"Just go! We've faced worse odds than this."

Blake's traitorous legs needed no further encouragement.

She made it all of a few yards before one of the slavering Grimm intercepted her frantic flight. She lashed out without thinking, sending its head spinning away, but another stepped into take its place. Unlike the last, this one was larger, and worse, this one showed no fear. It was the eyes. Those terrible, horrible eyes. They pierced right through her as it growled, blood still dripping from white jaws. She froze like a deer in the headlights, and sensing her fear, the beast closed in.

Gambol Shroud barked furiously in her grasp, to no avail. Bullets pinged harmlessly off its hide. It chuffed softly and hastened its stride.

What had she been thinking? She was too young. She wasn't ready for this. She couldn't...she wouldn't...she was going to...

Still the Grimm came on, those horrid eyes fixed on her. Its jaw popped open as it crept closer.

**"Little...cat...**

Wait, did it just talk?!

A bronze meteor fell onto the beast's back from on high and bore it down to the ground with a warcry. Blake's jaw popped open. Her savior didn't so much fall upon the Grimm as she did crash into it, physically pinning it to the earth with her spear. The creature perished before it truly knew what happened. Its killer -a girl in bronze and gold armor- rode their dissolving body to the ground with an awkward grace, stumbling on the landing with only the faintest hint of hesitation.

"Thank goodness." a familiar voice hummed. "Looks like I made it in time. "Are you alright?"

Blake spied red hair and bright green eyes, framed by a nervous smile as her savior helped her stand. With the other she plucked her spear free and with a segmented click, the weapon collapsed back into the form of a shortsword. She felt the faintest stirrings of envy at the sight; at her grace, at her fearlessness.

"I'm Pyrrha." the girl introduced herself. "Pyrrha Nikos."

"Blake." she clasped her hand and replied in kind. "Just...Just Blake."

Oddly enough, her apparent lack of recognition seemed to please the redhead for some reason Blade didn't understand.

"I knew I made the right decision coming here a year early." Her savior preened. Then she realized she was staring. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me." her hands flailed for a flustered moment. "But I don't suppose you have a partner? You're the first person I've seen thus far.

Blake nodded her head numbly. "Sorry. Already do."

"Don't be." the redhead beamed. "I just-

"Why are you still here?!" Emerald's stumbled through the trees, and the younger girls rounded on her with a start. "There's too many Grimm in these words. Too much cover for them, too. Find an open area!"

Only then did she notice Pyrrha.

"Oh. Its you." the green haired girl blinked and reached out to thumb a bit of dirt from the younger girl's cheek. "Hey, squirt. Glad you found us."

"I knew it...it really is you." Pyrrha breathed the words out with scarcely disguised glee, her grin nigh on euphoric. I finally found you!"

"Is that little red? Perfect timing." Naruto stumbled up beside Emerald, limping slightly. "We could use some help here."

Pyrrha preened. "I'd be happy to."

Blake was beginning to wonder if she'd missed something here; apparently these three knew each from some prior meeting, one she wasn't privy to. Whatever the case, the newcomer was all too happy to assist. Together the four of them beat a hasty retreat; Naruto and Pyrrha linked their shields and bore the brunt of their pursuer's wrath. Emerald harried them from the high ground, leaping from tree to tree, taking shots wherever she could, slinging her chains into any Grimm unlucky enough to stray far from the pack.

Blake couldn't bring herself to help them; fear still gripped her heart in an icy vice.

She felt like nothing. No, less than nothing.

It galled her that she had to be protected like this; least of all when she knew how to fight. Pyrrha was the same age as her and she showed no such hesitation, whirling and slashing alongside Naruto without a care in the world. She wanted that courage. Needed it. Craved it.

When the next Grimm overtook them, something snapped.

Blake leaped at it with a shriek, dove under its claws and speared it under the chin with her weapon. It collapsed with a wordless gurgle, and tried to rise. Gambol Shroud was having none of it. Her weapon hacked down once. Twice. Thrice. When one of its brothers bounded at her she snagged a limb with her weapon's ribbon, yanked them down, and slashed at their throat.

"Oh, great." Naruto sighed. "She's blooded."

Blake snarled at him. "Say that again!"

"Easy there, kitty-cat!"

Eventually their measured retreat allowed them to gain enough ground to make a break for it. Naruto lobbed another flashbang into the melee when the pack attempted to pursue, drawing a chorus of angry growls and howls from the beasts. Some of them stumbled after them, reeling from the grenade's aftereffects. Even then, the rest of them tried to pursue.

A piercing howl stopped them in their tracks. Almost as if something were calling them back.

Blake bristled at the sound of it. "What was that?"

"Too big for the four of us, _that's_ what." Naruto yanked her backwards when she tried to pursue. "I'm glad you finally found your courage, but there's a fine line between recklessness and suicide."

From there they retreated swiftly, never quite turning their backs on the pack even as the last of them melted away into the trees. Their little group didn't relax. Rather, they couldn't. Everyone expected another enemy to materialize at any moment. When they failed to do so, that only made the tension worse. Five minutes after the fact, they reluctantly lowered their guard, but still moved at a brisk pace.

Pyrrha was the first one to break the stifling silence that threatened to swallow them whole.

"Well," she groused, rubbing a bruised shoulder, "That wasn't grand."

Naruto snickered.

Emerald snorted softly.

Blake bit back a hysteric giggle.

_That_ set off an avalanche of nervous laughter amongst their little quartet. They'd fought and bled together, after all. There was no better camaraderie than that. Against all odds, they'd come together. Found one another, and triumphed. This was what it felt like to be a Team. Blake found she rather liked it.

It felt freeing. Cleansing.

With each step all her fears and doubts slowly washed away. In its place, came certain. Pride, even. She could see herself working with these three; dysfunctional though they were. Naruto and Emerald might have their own warped sense of moral and justice, but at least they weren't killers. Moreover, they weren't Adam. No matter how vicious they might be in a fight.

Pyrrha was nice, too.

They were both nearly the same age, two fledglings trying to make a name for themselves in the world, to step out of the shadows brought by their family names. And she _did _recognize hers. Pyrrha Niko was something of an infamous name, even among the White Fang. Wisely, she'd chosen not to mention it. Something told her only sadness and sorrow awaited her down that road.

Golden eyes drifted back to the unlikely trio ahead of her. Watched as Emerald rubbed Pyrrha's hair fondly.

Maybe she could have a life here after all.

"We worked pretty well together, I think." Naruto gave one last chuckle and wiped a mirthful tear from the corner of his eye. "Two tanks, and two rogues. Pretty balanced, I'd say."

Blake felt her ears twitch in mild curiosity. "Tanks? Rogues? What're you on about? Is that supposed to mean something?"

"Just an old RPG slang." Emerald waved her concerns down. "He's a bit of a gamer, don't mind him."

Naruto arched a blond brow. "Says the girl who likes to cosplay. Why, just the other day-

Emerald turned beet red and launched a pebble at him.

_Laughter flowed freely._

* * *

_(.0.0.0.)_

* * *

All told it was almost a relief to find the relics waiting for them.

In all honesty Naruto almost expected an attack when they finally broke through the thicket and reached their destination; after the afternoon they'd had, he was sure Emerald and the rest expected much the same. An ambush, an explosion, a trick of some sort. Something that would inevitably set them back once more. As soon as she saw the altars and the "Relics" placed atop them, his heart leaped. All the horrors they'd endured to get here made it worth it.

When no such threat emerged, he released a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding.

"This must be the ruins, then. Finally. Feels like we've been walking forever."

Emerald elbowed him. "What gave it away, dumbass?"

"Aw, you do care!" rather than be offended, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Told ya I'd grown on you."

"Tch, like bad mold." She elbowed him away, and the words held no rancor. "Go on, get moving. You're practically vibrating."

In truth he wasn't even sure how much leaping from one Grimm to the nest. His body certainly reflected that much. Everything ached.

His arms throbbed, his eyes burned and their was an uncomfortable buzzing sensation in the back of his head, a sure sign that he'd overexerted his Semblance. Yet at the same time he felt content. Sated. He'd drank his full from every Grimm they'd encountered and then some; he felt like he could take on the world right now.

That wasn't a good sign.

He'd need to find a way to safely burn off all this excess energy soon. Holding onto so much power for so long had...side effects. The last time he'd hoarded too much energy for himself, he'd gone berserk.

Best not to dwell on that.

Empowering his legs with just a little bit more power than was strictly necessary, he surged forward, reaching the altar before allies. He all but _felt_ Emerald roll her eyes and jogged after him. Young Blake and little Pyrrha brought up the rear, exchanging wondering looks for their surroundings.

A small, traitorous smile twitched at the corner of Naruto's mouth. Emerald aside, they weren't the friends he'd asked for, or even thought to need. Yet he found himself smiling at them all the same.

Here it was.

This was the new life he and Emerald had longed for, and so much more. The four of them had fought together, grown He wanted to look after them. Protect them. Keep them safe. This team -assuming they accepted the offer he was about to make- would be better than the last. This time, everyone would live. Not like Sasuke and Sakura.

Wait. Who were they? Why had he said their names?

A spike of bitter red agony rammed itself through Naruto's skull and he stumbled, nearly planting his face in one of the stone altars._ Sasuke. Sakura._ The names burned in the back of his mind like twin brands, sharp and hot and terribly painful. He clutched at his head, hissing between his teeth. A familiar voice cried out in his ears, longing to be heard.

_"Remember!"_ it cried out to him. _"This isn't you! Remember!"_

"Remember what?!" Naruto clicked his teeth in irritation. He felt as if he were on the verge of recalling some great and terrible truth, but it slipped through his fingers when he tried to grasp it. He bent double and bit his tongue until he tasted blood in his mouth. That sharp, bitter tang snapped him back to reality.

...alright?"

The blond blinked and found Emerald's red eyes peering at him. She'd reached him before the others, though having seen him collapse, Blake and Pyrrha were already hastening to his side. Shaking his head and tossing his bangs aside, the whiskered warrior willed the strange sensation away and forced himself to smile. It felt brittle on his face, as though it might crack at any moment.

_Whatever it is, ignore it._ Naruto muttered himself, shaking his head. _Suppress it. _

"Its nothing." he said. "Just a headache."

Emerald chewed her lip nervously and stepped forward.

"You're sure?" She laid a hand on his arm. "You've been getting those a lot lately."

"I'm fine, alright?" he touched his hand to hers. "Its just a migraine. Nothing's wrong. Trust me."

"I do." Dark fingers curled around his, but she didn't pull away. "Just be careful, alright? I...I can't lose you."

Naruto flinched at the reminder. He'd fallen ill when they were little._ Once._ It had been a raging fever, one that nearly killed him. Emerald had bawled her eyes out. Even after he'd managed to recover, she hadn't left his side for _weeks_ afterward. If something happened to him, or gods forbid, if someone ever hurt him...he wasn't sure what she'd do. He wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

On a whim he stepped into her and kissed her forehead.

Emerald's face flamed and she slammed her head into his neck to hide it.

"Hey, have some faith!" this time, his smile felt more natural to him, less brittle than before. "I've gotten us this far, haven't I?"

"Hmm." That mollified her enough to pull away, though her fingers lingered in his a bit longer than they should have before she tugged them three.

As the rest of their drew closer they saw these so-called relics for what they were. They weren't mystical items, nor sacred tomes, or any such thing. For all his talk about Relics and teamwork, the Headmaster had failed to mention how ordinary the items in question would be. He'd expected a lamp, or a staff, a crown, or perhaps even a sword. Not...this.

"Chess pieces?" Emerald scoffed. "Really?"

Naruto didn't answer. He simply stepped forward.

"Right then," he mumbled to himself. "Guess its decision time."

"Someone was already here by the look of it." Pyrrha indicated a pair of vacant altars. "They beat us here."

"Seems so." Naruto hummed. "There's still plenty to go around, by the look of it. Ozpin must've been yanking our chain."

A tan hand snatched up a golden knight piece, which in turn caused Emerald to choose the corresponding one. He'd expected that much. They were a package deal, after all.

"Such a little thing." he muttered the words softly, turning it over in his hand. "And yet it decides our fates. Funny." Blue eyes flickered over their ragtag little group. "So? How are we going to do this?" he asked. "Blake's my partner, as is Emerald, thanks to a technicality. But Pyrrha," he indicated the nervous redhead with a wave, then drew her into his side when she still dithered on the sidelines. "Made eye contact with Blake. Who, as I said, partnered with me."

Emerald palmed her forehead. "This is confusing."

"INCOMING!"

With sound and aplomb Coco Adel came crashing through the thicket, flanked by a number of applicants that Naruto failed to recognized. She saw them at once and snapped off a jaunty wave as she jogged their way; in so doing she also drew their his attention to the massive towering weapon slung almost casually over the older girl's shoulder.

Was...was that a gattling gun?"

"Looks like you beat us here," she groaned, sauntering up to them. "So much for our shortcut." Then her eyes fell upon the rest of their party and her crestfallen expression only worsened. "Aw, shoot." the brunette kicked one heel at the grass as she saw the four of them. "Looks like you found yourself a partner."

Naruto smiled wistfully at Blake. "Yeah. Guess I did."

"And I found mine." Emerald latched onto his arm like a limpet.

"Huh. Neat." Coco blinked, catching on quickly. "Way to use a loophole there, greenie. Introductions, then!" she clapped her hands together. "The big guy over there's Yatsuhashi."

Naruto turned his head in acknowledgement, only to realize he actually had to look _up _at the young man to greet him and return his nod. Holly crap. Coco hadn't been kidding. Yatsuhashi was an absolute _giant of a being, and one_ clad in green leathers with matching armor. The sword slung over his back was nearly as large as he was tall. Seriously, what did you eat to get that big?!

"And the quiet one's Fox, his partner." Coco indicated a dark skinned youth with white eyes and red hair, clad in crimson leathers and wielded curved blades to match. "He's not much of a talker. Got somethin' to do with his Semblance, I think."

_"Indeed."_

The voice that greeted him didn't come from the man's mouth, but his mind. Naruto blinked, momentarily startled by it. Any discomfort he might've felt vanished when the redhead offered a hand in greeting. He stepped forward and clasped it readily. "Telepathy, eh?" he whistled as he released Fox's forearm. "That's a handy ability. I'm kinda jealous."

"Jealous. Yeah. Sure. Riiiiiight." Emerald huffed softly in his ear. "Says the teleporting psycho with a freakin' drain touch ability. Why the hell wouldn't you be jealous?"

"And I'm sure you two remember Velvet here." Coco lowered her shades and winked. "Don't tell me you forgot about our favorite bun-bun?"

_"Coco!" _The Faunus in question swatted her arm, to no avail. "Why're you always like this?!"

"Like what?" The gunner planted a hand on her hip and cocked her head.

_"Aaargh!"_

"They're...certainly an interesting bunch?" Blake hazarded as she watched her fellow Faunus flail at Coco.

Emerald's elbow dug into her side. "Sweetie, you have no idea."

Pyrrha giggled softly.

Still, it brought up another, less pleasant question. Coco and her friends had come hammering out of the forest with undue speed; almost as if something were chasing them. Naruto risked a glance over their shoulders, half-expecting a horde of Grimm to come racing in, hot on their heels. No such luck. The Emerald Forest remained quiet. Almost eerily so. In the end, curiosity won the day and he had to ask.

"What kept you?" Naruto asked.

"Had to deal with a giant death stalker." the gunner chirruped. "You?"

"Just about the same thing," Emerald slapped a hand against her thigh. "The four us ran into a pack of mutated Beowolf."

Blake shuddered, as though remembering something foul. "I think...I think one of them talked."

All eyes turned to the young Faunus. And then:

"Nah."

"Nope."

"No way."

"Surely not."

"That's impossible!"

"Grimm do not speak."

"A-Are you sure you didn't imagine it?"

Despite each of their protests, Blake set her jaw and stomped a foot. "I know what I heard!"

A sudden and _fiery_ explosion deeper within the forest put paid to those very words.

Pyrrha craned her neck. "Somehow, I don't think they're a problem anymore."

"Ten lien says that's Cinder and her boy toy." Coco shuddered and clutched her arms close to her chest. "Right scary bitch, that one. Don't wanna mess with her. "Speaking of messes, this piece of shit to anyone?" she jerked an awkard thumb over her shoulder and Naruto finally noticed the quivering form of Cardin crouched behind Yatsuhashi. Despite himself, the blond grimaced. Winchester looked well and truly out of sorts. Even now he was mumbling to himself, head in his hands.

"Russell...Sky...Dove...Dead...dead...they're all dead...

"We found him like this hiding behind a tree." Velvet whispered, ears drooping in distress as she watched him. "He won't say anything else...

"No?" Coco clicked her tongue. "Pity. Guess we'll throw him to the Headmaster or something when we get back."

"All dead...all dead...

"Cardin?" Against his better judgement -and Emerald's hissing- Naruto pushed past Yatsuhashi and knelt before the younger boy. "What happened? Who died? Can you tell us?"

Wild eyes snapped up and locked onto him.

"You! You stupid fox!" Pale hands surged up and locked around his throat, trying to wring the life from his lungs. In his weakened state, Cardin had no more strength than an mewling infant. "They're dead because of you! If you'd just partnered with me, none of this shit would've happened! Its your fault!" Still he babbled on, livid and frothing at the mouth. "Not mine! ALL YOUR FAULT!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Coco cried! "What the hell are you doing, Winchester?! Are you cracked?!"

"Let go of him, you fiend!" Pyrrha started forward, only for Naruto to fling a hand up.

"Its fine." he sighed. "He's right to be angry with me."

Even as Cardin attempted to choke him, the whiskered warrior tensed the muscles in his throat, reached up and pried those fevered fingers away from his throat. Blue eyes pulsed red and the boy's crazed assault withered as his remaining strength was stolen from his very veins. When he faltered completely the blond reared back and him dead in the face with a fist. Cardin toppled to the ground like a fallen tree, head lolling to one side. He did not rise again.

Naruto did, however.

"Somebody give him a relic." he grunted, massaging his neck. "He'll hate us for it when he wakes up, but he's a survivor. He's earned his right to be in Beacon."

"Has he?." Emerald scoffed. "All I see is a scared little boy."

"Are you sure that's wise...?" Pyrrha murmured.

Was he? No, not at all. But an annoying thorn of guilt wouldn't let him be. Looking back, he could've partnered up with Cardin. He would've hated every second of it, but there was no denying that he might've been able to help his friends survive...had he been there. But he didn't, and he hadn't, and there could be no changing the past. He'd just have to live with it. As he did all things.

"Just...just do it."

Fox and Yatsuhashi wandered off to do just that.

Naruto took the opportunity to look around. Cardin's outburst had sapped the joy from their little gathering, as surely as a mortal wound. To make matters worse, he brush rustled again and another group emerged from the copse of trees nearby. Naruto offered a silent prayer that it would be a band of strangers, not who he thought it was.

His prayers weren't answered.

"See?" Adam Taurus emerged, flaked by Illia Amitola. "I knew I heard something...

Then the redhead saw Blake; moreover, Blake saw _him,_ and her face went bone white. Naruto's heart shuddered to a stop in his chest. He'd suspected that Adam and Illia had come here for her. He'd even said as much. From the beginning he'd known that Adam was here for a reason, that he had a purpose. He braced himself for an explosion, for shouting, for anger, for...something. It never came. There was no anger on Adama's part, no hatred, no spite. He looked...tired. Indeed his suspicions were proven correct a moment later when Illia cried out and threw herself into Blake head on.

"Found you!" she cried out in triumph.

To her credit, his partner didn't run away; if only because Illia was just too damn quick. The smaller girl hit her like an arrow and latched onto her. Illia's skin flashed seven shades of varying colors before she finally settled on a deep, rosy pink as she buried her head against Blake's shoulder. Realizing she wasn't going to escape anytime soon, Belladona sighed and unbent enough to awkwardly pat Illia's head and stroke her hair. True to form the chameleon faunus practically _mewled_ and nestled her face deeper still, content to take what comfort she could, _while _she could.

Not so Adam, who made the mistake of taking a step forward.

"Screw you!" Much to Naruto's dismay, Blake took one look at Taurus and backpedaled herself behind him, accidentally dragging Illia with her. "Not a word! You..._you stay away from me!"_

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Adam blew out a sharp, irritated breath. It reminded Naruto of a bull. "We'll discuss this later. You're coming back with us."

"No. There won't be a later!" Blake poked her head around Naruto's back with a hiss. "I never want to see you again!"

Adam flinched as if she'd slapped him across the face. She may as well have. Naruto saw the spark of anger there, knew what would happen if given the chance to fester. He'd seen hatred before. This...well, it wasn't quite that, but he didn't like what he saw all the same. So he spun around and swatted Blake on the shoulder. The startled girl recoiled with a yelp.

"What was that for?!"

For a fleeting moment, Naruto considered giving Blake a swift kick in the rear for good measure. It was only her sullen expression that stopped him. Honestly, it was like herding cats. There was some irony to be had there but he dare not speak it. He suspected Blake might try and claw his eyes out if he gave voice to his thoughts.

"Did it ever occur to you that he might want to change for your sake?"

Blake grumbled something best left unsaid and buried her head into his back.

"I hate to break up this touching reunion," Coco coughed, "But that still leaves the matter of teams."

Everyone went terribly still.

Coco opened her mouth to continue, but Adam bulled his way to the front with a silent glower. To his credit, the young man didn't draw his sword...yet. His expression proved telling enough.

"C'mon, Whiskers!" Coco clicked her tongue. "We don't have all day. Make your choice already! Who are you and Blake gonna work with?!"

Emerald turned pleading eyes on him. "You can't be serious. Its not even a choice...right?" It was like an arrow in the heart. _Urk!_

Naruto sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. Well. This didn't bode well. Everyone's eyes fell upon him.

Pyrrha's guilty expression certainly didn't help matters any. Poor girl looked like she'd been shot.

Exasperated, the whiskered warrior flung his arms up into the air.

_"What're ya lookin' at me for?!"_

**A/N: READ THIS LEST YE BE CONFUSED!**

**And with that, Initiation is done! Finally! Thank goodness!**

**Had to cut that bit with the Grimm and save it for later, don't worry, there's more to that scene than meets the eye.**

**This chapter was a logistical nightmare to write, due in no small part to recovering from surgery, all the moving pieces, AND the fact that we needed Blake to have some character development here in this chapter. Ugh. Never writing initation again if I can help it, bloody. Still, the votes have been tallied. I suppose I could allow one last chance to squeeze in a few more.**

**We'll be getting team names and delving into story arcs as of next chapter, so this is your absolute LAST chance to vote on the team names/composition here.**

**Seems fitting given the direction I plan to take this story. I know some were hoping for a CVNE (Caffeine) but they lost out this time around. ****And those Grimm we saw weren't a one off. Merlot's clearly up to something. But who can say? Not me. I'm not spoiling anything this time around. No sir!**

**As ever, lack of reviews murder my inspiration. If folks don't review, I tend to think they don't like a story, you know?**

**So in the Immortal Words of Atlas... ****...Revieeew... Would You Kindly?**

**They keeps an old man alive. ****And enjoy the (potential) previews!**

**References are references and I own nothing.**

**Which do you like?**

_**SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!**_

_**READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!  
**_

_**PLOT DETAILS AHOY!**_

_**(POTENTIAL Previews)**_

_Ozpin adjusted the microphone and cleared his throat. "Allow me to introduce..._

* * *

_"Naruto, no." Velvet whined. "Don't do it. Don't even think about it!"_

* * *

_"You look...familiar."_

_A boy with dark hair and darker eyes regarded him with quizzically. _

_Naruto felt his skull throb painfully at the sight of this stranger and the words he brought._

* * *

_"So that's your plan, boss? Get into their good graces and destroy them from the inside out?" __Mercury sounded skeptical and his expression told as much. __"Doesn't seem to be working."_

_"Patience, dear Mercury. In time, they'll play right into our hands."_

* * *

**_"Remember."_**

_Naruto glowered up at the giant fox, eyes narrow. "Remember what?"_

_A massive red iris snapped open._

**_"Remember who you are."_**

* * *

_"You're a bit of an odd duck, aint'cha?" Naruto blew out a sigh. "How the hell did you manage to lose a staff in the middle of the city?!"_

_"I'm not a duck!" the girl wrinkled her nose at him. "My name's Amber!"_

_A blond brow rose. "Question still stands, missy."_

_"I'm a bit clumsy, alright?!"_

* * *

_"I didn't know it was you, I swear!"_

_...as I said, I'm not emotional about the dust or the money, Roman." Naruto clapped a hand on his shoulder. "In fact, I couldn't care less. You're a thief. I'm a thief. Its what we do."_

**R&R~!**


	7. Our New Life

**A/N: **_**PLEASE READ THIS NOTE, WOULD YOU KINDLY?**_

**Hope you enjoyed the leisurely pace of this story, because after this chapter? Yeah, that ends. ****I'd loosely category this story as a slice of life tale, but its not going to be that way for much longer. I think we all know why, don't we?**

**Thanks for all the support, it means a lot to me and the gang. Really. Every review, no matter how short, keeps us going. ****COVID may have taken some us, but we will persevere. We must. ****If we, don't who will? ****No long author's note this time around; we don't want to detract from the chapter. ****As ever we own no quotes, references, themes or memes!**

**So in lieu of a wordy author's note...**_**readysetgo! **_**Did you really think I forgot about Cinder?**

**Moreover, do you think Cinder of all people hasn't noticed them?**

**Yeah...no. Naruto and Emerald aren't that lucky.**

**Also, bad Ozpin! Vet your students better!**

**Seriously, does he even do that...?**

**Wolf in Sheep's Clothing is next!**

_"Welcome to Beacon. Do try not to murder one another during your tenure here. __That would be...frowned upon."_

_"Can we at least maim them? This is a combat school after all."_

_...reminded me why I let you into my school again?"_

_"Because you don't vet your students?"_

_~?_

**Our New Life**

_In the end, Cardin Winchester wasn't accepted into Beacon._

Naruto wasn't quite sure why the news relieved him while he waited for his name to be called; only that it did. Bully though Cardin might have been, he'd felt obligated to at least try to help the younger boy after fate screwed him over so badly. Alas, the headmaster had taken on look at the poor boy and sent him packing with three words.

_Not mentally sound._

Three little words put the boy's career to death. Just as well, too; Cardin was a quivering wreck. He'd never be the same after this. He might not even recover his mind. His father had tried to push him into the life of a Hunter a year early. While that might not seem like a lot to someone, for those trained in the art of killing? It was an eternity. If boy's friends had paid the price for his folly with their lives, then so too had Cardin's fragile psyche.

Still, the knowledge that Naruto had _tried _absolved him of his guilt somewhat. He'd made an enemy, make no mistake, but it was an enemy he'd be _ready_ for come the future. More than could be said for-

An elbow nudged his ribs with firm gentleness, jarring the blond out of his dark thoughts. "You alright?"

He turned to find a familiar pair of red eyes gazing back at him, fraught with concern.

A smile creased the corner of his mouth.

"I'm fine, Em. Just thinking about the future." he reached around to wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her close as the milling crowd pressed in around them. She stiffened in surprise but didn't resist. On the contrary. Her head touched his shoulder as she squeezed in closer, heedless of the curious looks she attracted. Emerald didn't pay them any mind; she never did. His partner was many things, but shy? Nope. Never. She could spit and swear with the best of them; if only because she didn't give a flying fig what others thought of her.

Didn't stop Naruto from glaring bloody red daggers at a few "curious" boys, though. Bastards looked away soon enough.

On a whim he dipped down to kiss her forehead. Emerald made to jerk back with a sputter, then realized that would mean relinquishing her hold of him and the warmth afforded by coat and tail alike. Her nose wrinkled a little until he kissed that too. Her expression was one for the ages. For a moment he was reminded of the little girl he'd first picked up off the street. Simpler times, then.

"That's cheating." she whined, burying her head against his shoulder. "You're a dirty cheater, Naruto."

"How so?" a blond brow rose as he smirked. "You never complained when we were younger."

She stamped a foot. "I'm not a little kid anymore, Naruto."

"No, you're not." He agreed. "We've grown up."

A wistful smile stole over her visage.

...we really have, haven't we?"

A beat of comfortable silence draped itself over the two of them like a warm blanket as they watched Ozpin call yet another team to the stage. How many was that now? Three? They applauded politely for them with the others. Naruto didn't bother to remember their names or faces. He didn't recognize the young men and women standing up there, much less recall their names. Theirs would be called shortly, and with it, the beginning of a new life. It had proven a bit...rockier than he might've liked, but it was theirs.

"Do you regret it?"

"Hmm?" he turned to look at Emerald.

"Choosing me." she nuzzled against him. "You didn't have to choose me."

She was talking about the choice he'd made back in the Forest some hours ago. Silly girl. Why would he regret it? Things had admittedly been...tense for a moment back there, but in the end he'd made the only decision he possibly could. Some hadn't been happy with it, voices had been raised and weapons nearly drawn, but in the end he'd made them see sense. For better or worse -mostly better!- he'd made his choice.

"Whaddya blabbering on about? 'Course I did." This time his grin felt genuine as he pressed his forehead to hers. "Love ya."

Emerald's face turned a fascinating shade of rosy chocolate as she slapped his arm. "Don't say it so casually!"

He laughed and squeezed her tight. "But its true!"

_"Ahem."_

Atop the stage, Headmaster Ozpin adjusted the microphone and cleared his throat, commandeering their attention once more. "Would Naruto Uzumaki, Emerald Sustrai, Blake Belladona, and Pyrrha Niko please come forward?"

Emerald stiffened in his arms. "Moment of truth...

Pyrrha swallowed at his elbow, jade eyes regarding the Headmaster with trepidation. "Well...that's us. I suppose its time."

Blake regarded the stage warily. Her ears twitched, easily visible without her bow. Like a skittish kitten, ready to bolt.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all," she muttered. "I'm not ready for-

Emerald saw her fear and latched onto the smaller girl's elbow before she could. "Oh, no you don't kitty-kat! You're stuck with us now!"

Golden eyes widened as she gave her a watery smile. "Do you really mean that...?"

"Quick!" Naruto and Pyrrha dove on her. "Get her while she's weak!

"I've got her legs!"

_"Hey!"_

Together the three of them bundled the frightful faunus between them to prevent her escape as they hastened up onto stage. If the Headmaster noticed their anxiety or their antics, he didn't make a point of it. Keen eyes took them in one by one, lingering only for a moment on the last of them with a bemused smile. Not for the first time, Naruto wondered what the man was thinking, allowing known criminals into Beacon. He couldn't be that blind. He was up to something, though he knew not what.

"The four of you each retrieved the black knight pieces and earned your place here in Beacon." Ozpin gestured grandly to each of them before turning to face the crowd of students anew. "From this day forward you shall work together as Team Nebula."

A smattering of applause greeted them. Coco whistled loudly somewhere within the crowd.

"How the hell are _we_ a Nebula?" Naruto hissed through his teeth.

Pyrrha offered him a helpless shrug. "Maybe its a color thing?"

"Shh!" Emerald elbowed them both, but it was too late.

"I'm sorry, Ozpin arched a benevolent brow at Naruto. "Did you have something to say, young man?"

He nearly did but Emerald elbowed him into silence.

"Nope." he settled for a shrug instead.

He heard Blake groan beside him.

"Very good." a hand came down on his shoulder, rooting him where he stood. "As team leader, it will fall to _you_ to guide your allies going forward." that pale palm patted him once and came away with subtle smile. "May you continue to lead them well." Tch. He'd seem that bit of leadership on the cameras, hadn't he. Sneaky bastard. "I'll be expecting great things from you."

_'And why does that not fill me with confidence? Oh gods, this is gonna be the Atlas job all over again, isn't it?'_

Ozpin's words caught up with him a moment later. Blue eyes fluttered in a rapid blink.

"Eh? Team leader?" Naruto slammed a finger to his chest. "_Me?"_

Ozpin's smile reminded him of his own. "Indeed."

...is this a punishment?" he frowned.

_"Get off my stage, please."_

Naruto absolutely _twitched_ as he all but vaulted back to the main floor. Emerald actually had the gall to snicker as followed him, leaving little Blake and Pyrrha to trail after them with baffled expressions. So. She wanted to play that way, did she? There would be a reckoning for this. Emerald was losing her cuddle privileges tonight!

And him? Leading a team? He didn't like it. Sure, _someone _had to lead, but why him?! Frankly, he didn't want the responsibility. Emerald he got on with alright -they knew one another's tricks inside and out!- but the idea of being responsible for poor Pyrrha's well-being, let alone Blake...

"So," Pyrrha ventured, drawing his attention, "Can we stay and see what the other teams will be?

"If you like." Naruto offered her a selfsame smile. "I don't really care one way or the other."

Blake turned pleading golden eyes on him. "Can we not? I'd rather hit the hay."

"I say yes," Emerald disagreed. "I want to see the competition."

Blake wilted, accepting defeat.

"Don't be like that, kiddo." Naruto soothed. "We'll go out for seafood later."

Aaaand just like that, she perked back up again. "Promise?"

He couldn't help but smile. "Yup."

"I say we take bets on team names." Emerald chimed in before Blake could press for more than that. "No way are we going to be the only oddballs here."

Naruto had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Em, _where_ did you even get the money to bet? We spent most of ours."

Red eyes blinked but once. "Stole some."

A blue eye twitched. "From who?"

...just about everyone, really."

_"Emerald!"_

"Even us?" Pyrrha posited.

"Nah, not you two." she waved her concerns away. "You're family."

Naruto wasn't sure if she noticed the pleased noises Blake and Pyrrha made. He certainly did.

"Can we get in on that wager?" Coco sauntered toward them, with Velvet only a beat behind. The faunus perked up when she saw the four of them, ears, standing ramrod straight as she dared a tentative little wave; one the four of them returned. Belatedly, Naruto found that recognized the young men behind her. Fox and...blast it at all, what was the other one's name? Ah! Yatsuhashi! The gentle giant saw them next and nodded a subtle greeting of his own as Fox did the same.

"You guys go ahead." Coco made a shooing gestured. "Vel an' I wanna have a few words with whiskers here."

"As you wish." Yatsu bowed at the waist. "We'll be close by if you need us."

Fox, as ever, remained curiously silent.

Naruto watched them go with a shake of the head. Those two looked might seem odd, but there could be no denying their strength. The Emerald Forest ate weaklings alive. That they were here at all spoke of their skill at arms, if not their mental acumen. reliable enough. They were strong. Coco and Velvet would be in good hands.

Still, that could've been him.

He imagined it for a moment then immediately dismissed it. Another life, perhaps.

"Sooo...no hard feelings?" he offered Coco a palm. "I don't want there to be any bad blood between us."

"Nah," The fashionista met his raised hand and slapped him a quick high five. "We're cool. You've got your girls to look after and I've got mine."

_"Coco!"_ Velvet made a keening noise.

"All too easy, bun-bun. All too easy." she blew the embarrassed faunus a kiss before turning back to face him. "Now that we've officially survived initiation, we were thinking about a little celebration. Not now," she waved when everyone groaned, "Just a little shindig at the end of the week. Something to celebrate our new lives, eh?" she the gleam of interest in Blake's eyes and leaned closer. "How about it? Anybody up for karaoke?"

Emerald looked fit to spit. "Coco, no. First, its only Monday. Second? Bad idea. Even for you. You _don't_ want to hear Naruto sing."

Lies! Libel! Slander! "As if you're any better than me, missy!"

"You shattered glass the last time." she scoffed.

_"I was ten!"_

"I can sing a little...

All eyes rounded on little Pyrrha.

To her credit, the champion didn't balk beneath the weight of their gaze. Which was _something_ considering anyone who was anyone was currently looking at her like she'd grown a second head; and said second head had started shooting lasers from its eyes. Even Coco was looking at her.

"Really?" Velvet found her vice first.

"Father forced me to take lessons when I was younger." the redhead grimaced. "While I'm admittedly not as good as someone like Weiss Schnee...

"Who sounds like a brat." Blake chimed.

...still, I have some confidence in my skills." she finished.

"I suddenly find myself reconsidering my decision." Emerald stated.

"Ditto." Naruto seconded immediately. "I kinda want to hear Pyrrha sing now."

"I _third_ that motion!" Coco bulled in, eyes flashing. "It's only Monday, right? So that'd be what, Saturday?"

Pyrrha shook her head rapidly, red ponytail flashing behind her head head, but it was too late to dig herself out of it now. She'd made her bed and she'd have to sleep in it. She found no pity in the eyes of her teammates, and only curiosity in the eyes of Velvet and Coco.

Naruto looked past her. "Velvet? You're alright with this?"

She turned those wide of hers on him and he wavered. "Please?"

_"Every time!"_

"What can I say? I'm greedy." Something sparked in the brunnette's eyes. "Speakin' of which, mind holding still for a bit?"

Naruto recognized the gleam in her eyes too late. Even as he stepped back, the brunette stepped forward and delivered a chaste kiss to his cheek. It was...surprisingly tame for Coco. So much so that he half-expected her to try something else. When she didn't, he couldn't help but be alarmed.

Not even when Emerald hissed. "The hell was that for?!"

"I didn't forget you, mint." Coco rounded on her in the next instant. "C'mere~!"

"Wait, what're you on about-mmph!" The gunner's mouth met hers, silencing her in an in instant.

Pyrrha _meeped._ Blake's jaw clicked open. Naruto whistled softly at the sight.

Velvet covered her face...and peeked between her fingers.

"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that." Coco pulled away, grin growing as the illusionist balked at her. "So worth it!

Ozpin's voice saved them from Mount Emerald's eruption._ "Would Coco Adel, Fox Alistair, Velvet Scarlatina, and Yatsuhashi Daichi please report to the stage?"_

"Well, that's us." Coco tilted up her shades and waved. "See you two around. For what its worth, I'm looking forward to tomorrow." Her hip brushed Naruto's in passing as she sashayed away with a less-than-subtle sway in her step. "By the way," she called back, "I'll take that bet you mentioned. Hundred lien says the Headmaster's going to give our team a kickass name...unlike yours!"

Naruto only gawped for a moment when she walked away. Really. Just a moment...a few seconds...maybe a minute, tops.

Emerald glared bloody red daggers at him for it. _"Down,_ lover boy."

"C'mon, Em...it ain't like that...

"Stop staring at her hips then." she challenged.

"I'd like to see _you_ try!" he accused. "Just _look_ at her!"

Emerald followed his gaze with a roll of the eyes but nevertheless tilted her head to follow Coco. Tilted it further. Nearly horizontal. Coco didn't walk. She absolutely strutted. And why not? She had nothing to be ashamed of. The girl was confidence personified. She caught Emerald looking and winked over her shoulder. Now it was her turn to flush.

"Fair point." she conceded, cheeks rosy as she touched a hand to her lips. "She really does flaunt it...but what the hell was that?"

"You're asking me?" Naruto saw weakness and pounced._ "I_ wasn't the one she tongued."

The poor thief looked fit to combust, but she saw her chance to turn the tide.

"Still, what color is a Nebula?"

"Anything, really." Pyrrha chimed in with a hint of uncertainty. "Its can be multiple colors...like us. I think its fitting, given who we are."

Naruto and Blake exchanged a wry look.

She was right in a sense. They came from all walks of life. Two former thieves, an Ex-White-Fang-Operative and a Champion all signed up to be Hunters. It sounded like the beginning to some bad joke. You couldn't get a more eccentric cast than this if you tried. Naruto's heart swelled with something. Belatedly, he realized it was pride; pride in other people.

_Pure child. Must protect from everyone!_.

"Shh!" Blake yanked his arm in a rare display of emotion. "The Headmaster's about to...!"

_"I now present Team CFVY!"_ Ozpin's voice called. It was a death knell for Coco._ "Henceforth they shall be known as Team Coffee!"_

Coco swore a blue streak. "Oh gods damnit!"

Pyrrha's mouth twitched into a smile and Blake's joined hers.

Naruto and Emerald's reactions? Why, they were nothing short of explosive.

"Ha!" Naruto crowed, pumping a fist into the air. "Easy money!"

"Eat it, suckers!"

_"If you lot are quite done down there?"_ Ozpin called, his voice all but throbbing with irritation. _"Would the following students please report to the stage? Adam, Illia, __Cinder and Mercury. I repeat,__ please report to the stage. Now. Preferably before I crack someone upside the head with my cane."_

Naruto perked up even as Blake wilted anew. Adam and Illia were known to them, but the last two?

"What're ya hiding for?" Emerald frowned when Blake ducked behind her. "Its not like Adam's going to attack you."

Coco and Velvet had proven willing enough to forgive and forget when he refused to give the girl up. Adam would be...well, not volatile, he wasn't quite there yet, but there was a danger all the same. They'd come here to retrieve Blake and drag her back to the Fang. If he'd surrendered the poor girl to them Blake would've undoubtedly bolted.

His gaze slipped to the woman in her red dress and found he recognized her. She was the very one who'd insulted Cardin just last night. She glided up the steps alongside a silver-haired youth. Something in him screamed a warning the longer he looked at them. Golden eyes caught his from the stage and narrowed on him. A coy smile plucked at the woman's lips.

A chill shot down Naruto's spine and he lifted his chin defiantly.

Bad idea. Those blazing orbs focused oh im

**"You need to kill her."** a voice hissed in the back of his head. **"The boy, too. First chance you get, chop their heads off. You'll be doing this world a favor, trust me."**

_'You again?'_ he turned his attention inward, trying to nail the annoying presence to a wall, once more to no avail._ 'What do you want?!'_

**"I want you alive, for one. Which you won't be if SHE gets her hands on you. Hurry up and remember!"**

Pain flared in his skull. "For crying out loud...remember what?!"

**"Remember who you are!"**

_"Henceforth," _Ozpin's voice called him back to reality,_ "The four of you shall be known as Team ACMI, otherwise spelled as ACME...led by Adam."_

If one listened carefully, they could hear the sound of grinding teeth."

Naruto couldn't help himself. He guffawed openly.

Pyrrha slapped a hand over her mouth, but it was too little, too late. She'd snickered. The crowd caught that and the auditorium roared with laughter. Emerald bit her own palm to stifle her mirth, but within moments she joined the lot of them. And Blake? Blake actually giggled. Just like that, all thoughts of danger and distress flew right out the window. They broke the glass and kept going, rocketing straight past the shattered moon into space.

"Nevermind." Naruto snorted. I like your team name. We would've wound up as team pimple."

"That's not how you spell it!" Cinder howled!

Naruto hooted right back. "That's how _I'm_ going to spell it!"

He was still laughing when they finally reached their new dorm room.

* * *

(.0.0.0.)

* * *

"Bunk beds?"

_"Bunk beds."_ Naruto beamed, stringing the last one of the rigging up. C'mon, don't

Emerald recoiled with visible disdain as she eyed the four beds before them, one standing atop the other. She wanted to burn them. Burn them with fire. Whoever invented the hated concept of those...those things? Yeah, they deserved to be strung up by their toes. In her eyes, beds were meant for sharing warmth. She loathed the idea of sleeping alone. So she said as much.

"I'd rather sleep with you."

Pyrha squeaked. Blake made a choking sound.

Emerald squinted at them, baffled by their response. "Was it something I said?"

"And you say _I_ have a filthy mind." Naruto shook his head with a bemused wink. "Now, now. Lets not scar our darling daughters."

"Eh?"

"I beg your pardon?!"

"Well," slim shoulders rolled in a shrug as he stowed the last of his gear, "Em and I are clearly going to be looking after the two of you, given that you're both a year younger than us, sooo...might as well. Pyrrha's pure and needs protecting, and Blake's...well...Blake."

Pyrrha granted him a watery smile of her own. "That sounds grand."

Blake folded her arms. "I'm _not_ calling you daddy."

"You wound me!" the blond howled!

Emerald looked away for a second as she kicked her shoes off; just a second. That was all. In that second, Blake cried out. The former thief whipped around to find the dark-haired girl standing on the very tips of her toes and Naruto holding up a dark red book as though it were the holy grail itself. His triumphant expression suggested otherwise. Uh-oh. She knew that look all to well. That look was nothing good.

"Em, look!" Naruto feigned a sniffle. "Blake's got porn! Our little girl's growing up so fast-GACK?!"

The smaller faunus tackled him to the floor.

"Its fantasy, not porn! Give it back!"

Emerald watched the chaos unfold with a tiny smile as Pyrrha tried to separate the two, only to be dragged in herself. So, this was her new life. It was official now. There could be no turning back. She'd gone from a starving street urchin to an accomplished thief. Now here she was, aiming to become a huntress. She'd found a partner and fallen in love, even if he didn't quite realize it yet. And now, quite suddenly, she had friends aplenty -daughters, if she wanted to play Naruto's game- and so much more.

Emerald observed the three of them for a moment more watching them banter back and forth like children.

Then she waded in. "Alright, alright, lemme see the book...

This was her new life. She would fight to keep it. Because for the first time in her life, this was something she hadn't stolen. She'd earned this. She had made it her own. She would kill to protect it. _To protect them._ If anyone tried to rip away their happy new life together, if anyone took it into their head to break apart her team...well. They'd have a bad time. They were family, after all. You didn't steal from family. Family was...well, family. And that meant no one got left behind.

_Felt damn good to say that._

**A/N: READ THIS LEST YE BE CONFUSED!**

**This is the last slow chapter. Events take off like a ROCKET after this. Hope you're prepared.**

**The gang and I were spinning our wheels trying to find a proper name for Cinder's so-called team, so I went for a gag name instead. Rest assured, its likely a temporary one. I'm prepared to change it if someone finds a suitable acronym for**

**Coco is pure confidence. That is all. Heh, she's fun to write.**

**Cinder, no. Bad Cinder! Bad girl! Don't make me bust out the newspaper!**

**We're going to do our best to make this story move faster, these last few chapters were for the sake of world-building, but that'll soon change. Furthermore, we're**** going to be cutting down on the number of previews here, they're becoming a bit too spoilery for my liking. You can expect to see the ones from last chapter in...well, the next one.**

**As ever, lack of reviews murder my inspiration. If folks don't review, I tend to think they don't like a story, you know?**

**So in the Immortal Words of Atlas... ****...Revieeew... Would You Kindly?**

**They keeps an old man alive. ****And enjoy the (potential) previews!**

**References are references and I own nothing.**

**Next chapter: Gimme That Fire**

**Which do you like?**

_**SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!**_

_**READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!  
**_

_**PLOT DETAILS AHOY!**_

_**(POTENTIAL Previews)**_

_"Naruto and Cinder to the ring, please." Miss Goodwitch called._

_Pyrrha stiffened._

_"Oh, dear..._

* * *

_"You could be so much more than this. Join me."_

_Naruto felt his lips curl into a snarl. "Nah. **You** join us. We have our own plan."_

_Cinder laughed. It was a soft, sensual sound. He didn't trust it for a moment. "Do you, now...?_

_Nope. Nothing. Not a thing._

_There is an old saying among thieves in Vacuo. __When in doubt, bullshit your way out. __Naruto wasn't willing to give up his carefree new life for anything. He and Emerald had thrown their old life behind. Anyone who tried to threaten that...wel. He was ready and WILLING to bullshit his way out of this._

**R&R~!**


	8. Gimme That Fire

**A/N: **_**PLEASE READ THIS NOTE, WOULD YOU KINDLY?**_

**DOUBLE UPDATE DAY! WHOO! Surgery hurts, so I'm limping along for now. Still! ****I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaack!**

**Finally! I can move my arms properly again! Text-to-speech is a pain in the ass and I've lost my voice because of it, but still! Arms! Are! Back! My eye's getting better too. ****Now comes the long-awaited time skip; which means I can break out the big guns I've been holding in reserve. ****Naruto's presence has clearly changed the timeline at this point; altered it in ways you can't possibly imagine.**

**Time for the good 'ol Q&A! Here we go!**

**Q: Wait a minute. If Naruto and Em are from Vacuo here...do they know about Jax and the Crown!?**

**A: Emerald elaborates on that.**

**Q: What's the pairing?**

**A: Keep reading to find out~!**

**Q: Yikes, that's a scary Semblance Naruto has. Reminds me of Null.**

**A: Less than you'd expect, more than you think. Its gated by his morals and emotions. He doesn't like killing people and taking their semblances, but he will if he must. At this point, he only has his original and one he stole by accident. ****But I never said he couldn't give a Semblance to someone else now, did I? ****Right now, he wants to try and live a somewhat normal existence with Emerald. Should something happen to her, should he ever go off the rails...Remnants in for a bad time.**

**Ask yourself this. What would happen if he killed a Maiden? Would the power flee? Would it go to him? Or would it just...die?**

**Nations would KILL for his semblance if they knew what he could do.**

**Q: Nice family theme you've got going here.**

**A: ****Had a one reviewer winging about the family bit with Naruto and Emerald. Really? Can't we all just enjoy a good story?**

**Q: Naruto and Cinder fight when?!**

**A: NOW!**

**Q: Is Salem aware of Naruto?  
**

**A: Unfortunately? Yes.**

**As ever, I own no references, themes or memes.**

**Title is from a song. Huh. I seem to be doing a lot of those lately:**

_"What happens when you place two criminals in the same room? Consider the matter for a moment, dear Tyrian. __In one corner, we have a young woman who craves power or rather, the recognition brought on by power. Someone who was used and abused all her life, someone who never wants to be weak again. __In the other, e have a reformed thief, a man who can steal nearly anything. Strength, life, magic, even the very Semblances these petty mortals hold dear. Will their goals align? Will they kill one another? Or perhaps...?_

_The answer might surprise you. I'm rather curious to see what will happen._

_Let them be for now. We shall see what happens._

_After all, everyone has a weakness..._

_~Salem._

**Gimme That Fire**

_Team Nebula had a rather interesting first morning, all things considered._

Emerald woke and claimed fist shower by right of conquest; namely by being quick to rise and quicker still to slam the bathroom door in everyone's face. Warm water washed away every ache and pain brought on by the mess known was initiation, leaving her feeling pleasantly relaxed by the end of it. Bit of a pity, though. She would've liked Naruto to join her, but such was impossible with Blake and Pyrrha literally pounding on the door for their turn. Girls liked their showers.

The things one gave up for family.

From there it was a mad scramble down to the cafeteria to get some grub; if only because _ever other student _had the same idea. Hordes of hungry, near-zombified teenagers descended upon the mess hall, pale and grasping for brains-erm, food. Yes. Definitely food. Honestly, it nearly became a food fight. Thankfully, the other teams seemed too preoccupied with their first meal to give them any trouble. Which meant Coco didn't come poking around...yet.

Thank heaven for small mercies.

"So, first lessons?" Blake asked over breakfast.

"Dunno." Naruto tore into another pancake. "What's on the agenda?"

Emerald utter a jaw popping yawn as she slumped against the table. It was as good a way to start the day as any. "Pyrrha?"

"Lets see, first comes Grimm studies with professor Port." their resident redhead thumbed through the lesson plan given them, "Then combat classes with Miss Goodwitch. After that, we're free for the rest of the day." She looked up, a faint smile at her lips. "Well! It would appear that they're being generous with us, given its our first day. That's grand. Perhaps we can go into town after?

"Sure, why not-

Naruto perked up, blue eyes flashing with delight. "Combat class, you say?"

Emerald swatted him with a newspaper. "No! Bad Naruto! Sit! Stay!"

"I'm a fox, not a dog you know...

It was too much to hope he would stay out of trouble.

Then again, that was why she loved him. Know it or not, he had her heart. Until death did them part. Naruto would never abandon her. Never betray her. He could not be bent. He would not be broken. Many had tried. All had failed. The last group to make such an attempt fared...poorly. Her beloved shattered every bone in their leader's body and left them for the Grimm. The rest he destroyed...all save one.

Really? The Crown? What were they thinking? Did Jax think them unprepared? Idiots.

She glared down at her fist, stifling a smile as Aura flowed across her palm.

That said, his sister Gillian had a _fascinating_ Semblance, the ability to siphon Aura from one individual to the next. Emerald knew it well. It now ran through her veins. Naruto's gift to her. It made her strong. Versatile in a world were adaptation was king. She would treasure it always, and only ever use it for his sake. So she swore. But Jax?. His semblance died with him in the desert. A power like that was too great a temptation for anyone to hold. Emerald had begged him to let it go, and to her relief he relented. Better to let a wretched ability like that vanish into the void, where no one would be able to use it. Just as it should be...

_"Em?"_

The master thief blinked. "Huh? What is it?"

Naruto regarded her with keen blue eyes. "You...looked like you were spacing out for a bit, there."

"No, I'm fine." she sidled up against him before he could dwell on it. "Nothing to worry about, here. I'm where I belong."

Munching happily on a fresh slice of toast, Emerald looped an arm around his waist. Naruto laughed and laid his head on her shoulder. She allowed it, content to sit and bask once more in the warm glow of her new family. Her new life had finally begun. Everything was coming up roses now.

Nothing could ruin this. Absolutely nothing at all.

* * *

(.0.0.0.)

* * *

"Monsters, creatures of the night, Grimm!" Professor Port boomed. "But I call them prey! Why, when I was but a boy...!"

Emerald's head struck the desk with a resounding smack.

Naruto joined hers a heartbeat later. "NOPE!"

Blake lasted only a second longer.

Pyrrha tried to endure.

_More fool she!_

* * *

(.0.0.0.)

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos was beginning to think her team was...broken.

Not in a bad way, mind you! Naruto and Emerald were delightfully crass and they didn't give a flying fig about her fame. Blake was quiet, but not so much an introvert as one might initially suspect. When she wanted to ask you something, she darn well would. Always full of questions that one. The Nikos name meant nothing to her, either. It didn't mean anything to any of them. They accepted her for her she was, not what she'd done, not who she'd become. She was just plain 'ol Pyrrha to them. She loved them for that.

Even if she couldn't remember their first class together.

Port's class proved mercifully brief. At least she felt it had. Most of the class dozed off within the first five minutes and she'd eventually succumbed to it as well. Dear gods, but that man could ramble on! His very voice was a weapon! Was it a semblance? It had to be a semblance. Nothing else could put trained men and women to sleep so easily.

By contrast she found herself looking forward to combat class and all it entailed.

Miss Goodwitch certainly looked capable enough...and rather frightening at that. She looked stern. Dangerous, even. This was a huntress; a weapon of deadly will and power given human form. This was what she would be one day...assuming she managed to survive the next four years. Somehow, she didn't think her tournament training would stack up well against the hell she was about to see.

"Welcome, students." their instructor spoke clearly, her voice ringing out to be head by all in the room. Pyrrha tried her best not to shrink beneath her gaze. "As this is our first class together, I thought it best to go over the basics. First!" Her crop smacked into an open palm. "As huntsmen and huntresses, you are expected to uphold the peace. That includes...

Blake flicked an ear lazily as she droned on. Pyrrha found her eyes drawn to it, mind listening even as she did her best to pay attention. She truly did. But she found her attention waning and her thoughts wandering all the same. Perhaps she was still numb from listening to Port's lecture. Could it even be called that? He'd most told them stories of his youth. If there had been a lesson in there

Coco nudged her with an elbow. When had she gotten so close? "So, any bets on the first match?"

"Match?"

Sure enough, Miss Goodwitch was looking at their group with a keen eye.

"Lets see," she began slowly, "Would Naruto and...

Pyrrha looked away._ Not me, not me, not me!_

...Cinder, please enter the ring?"

Pyrrha perked up, realizing she'd been spared. She turned to find her team leader striding forward, shields strapped to either wrist. There was a high, wild light in his eyes, one she recognized from the Emerald Forest. His blood was up again. As he turned to face his opponent, she beheld the very woman who had emasculated Cardin just the other night. Cardin. Who wouldn't be attending Beacon due to his ruined mental state. No, best not to think about that. She forced her thoughts elsewhere.

Cinder. So that was her name.

Coco whistled. "This'll be good. No one's seen her fight."

Velvet nudged her. "Don't be so bloodthirsty. Its just a bit of sparring."

"Girl, tell that to him! He looks like he wants to eat Cinder up! Same goes for her!"

Pyrrha's gaze swung back to the combatants. If Naruto's grin reminded her of a tricky fox, then this woman was a viper, coiled and ready to strike. She wore a smile but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Hips swaying, she didn't so much much walk as she did strut into the ring. Not a single movement was wasted. Confidence personified, this woman.

"We meet again." Cinder laughed and something in her voice sent a shiver racing down Pyrrha's spine. "I'm curious to see what you're capable of."

"You as well." Naruto didn't rise to the bait, but slipped into a stance of his own. "I've been wanting to fight you."

_"Don't!"_ a tiny voice shrieked in the back of Pyrrha's head. She wasn't sure why.

What was this trepidation she felt? Try as she might, she couldn't put her finger on it. A strange, nebulous dread wriggled its way into the pit of her stomach and took root there. She wanted to tell herself that it would be alright; Naruto was strong after all. He might enjoy a good fight from time to time, but surely there wasn't any danger here. Glynda would step in before either took things to far. Would she not?

"You will fight until one ring out, one of you surrenders," Miss Goodwitch declared, "Or your aura drops into the red. Prepare yourselves."

Cinder raised her arms and a pair of wickedly curved swords manifested in her palms, one to each hand. They looked sharp and jagged, as though formed from glass itself. She brandished them with deceptive grace, eyes alight. For a moment they almost seemed to glow. Pyrrha blinked and it was gone. Surely that must've been her imagination.

"Interesting semblance." Naruto hummed.

Cinder tilted her head, ebony hair falling over one golden eye. "Aren't you going to use yours?"

"Nah." He waved a hand flippantly and began to circle her. "We're all friends here, right? I'll take it easy."

"How kind of you." Cinder mirrored his motions perfectly, closing the gap. "But do be careful. Pride comes before the fall."

His grin grew. "Know a thing or two about that, do you?"

Her gaze narrowed and Glynda's crop slashed through the air. "Begin!"

_The circle closed._

Cinder lunged and Naruto moved to meet her, flicking his right arm toward her face in a savage shield bash. She caught it on her leftmost blade and swiped at his face with the other. He turned it aside with a slap of his palm and rammed a heel palm into her chin. She raked a blade across his ribs for it. The world blurred away as they fell upon each other in a flurry of blows. This wasn't a battle, Pyrrha realized. To call it such would be a disgrace. This was a waltz. Cinder was an unstoppable force. Naruto was an immovable object.

Someone had to give, and it wasn't him.

Naruto weathered Cinder's assault with ease, blocking what he could and tanking what he couldn't, ensuring she never got the upper hand. For her part Cinder proved just as relentless; ever on the offensive, striking out at his exposed legs, flowing around him seeking the holes in his defenses as she did her very best to drive her blades home. Their dance deepened, becoming something darker. More primal. She snarled when she missed a strike and Naruto laughed as he brought a hammer fist crashing down on the back of her head.

Coco pumped a fist and out a whoop. "Now that's how you fight! Kick her ass, whiskers!"

Pyrrha wanted to be up there. She wanted to fight with them.

"He's playing with his food again."

"I'm sorry?" the redhead stole a quick glance at her teammate. "What do you mean?"

"Look at him." Emerald tucked a stray strand of mint-colored hair behind one ear. "He's too busy having fun up there. He isn't taking this seriously. See for yourself." she spat on the floor, momentarily alarming her. "Its going to be the death of him someday."

Cinder took another blow and brought her blades crashing down on Naruto's shield. He took the attack on his arm then rammed his forehead into hers, sending her stumbling back. When she retreated, he chased her, forcing her on the back foot with quick measured strikes. All the while, he was grinning from ear to ear. A laugh tore from him as she hacked off a huge chunk of his aura, but he kept attacking, forcing her to the very brink of the ring.

Blake inhaled sharply. "He's got her!"

It certainly seemed so. Naruto had Cinder on the back foot. He just needed to press the attack...until quite suddenly, he didn't. He must have seen somethign they hadn't; because he flung himself backwards. Pyrrha soon saw why. A series of jagged glass-like spikes burst from the space he'd been standing a moment before. One caught him in his ribs, sending him tumbling to the floor.

Finally, Cinder ceased her retreat. Once more, her eyes almost seemed to glow for a moment before they dimed.

"Are you just going to cower behind those shields of yours?" A dark brow rose in challenge. "I thought you were braver than that."

Naruto merely hummed. "Best offense is a good defense. But if you insist...

He blurred.

Cinder spun, but it was too late. His right hand brushed her bare shoulder and she hissed as a black mark bloomed there, branded against her flesh. She cut out of him but he was already gone, slamming his palm into the floor. Another struck the arena, carving a third mark. Fourth. Fifth. A sixth and a seventh now, as he trailed his hand across the ground. Eight. Too late, she realized his intentions. Nine. A wave of molten glass crackled at his feet but he was already gone, already moving, _already on her._

And for the first time since she'd seen her, Cinder cried out in pain. A littany of cuts blossomed across her arms, leaving her reeling.

In a heartbeat her aura plummeted, hanging just above the red.

"You said you wouldn't use your semblance."

"I lied." he shrugged carelessly. "Words are a weapon too, Cinder. Everything is-

-a weapon." she finished for him, licking a beat of blood from when she'd bit her lip. "I am familiar with the saying. A man after my own heart. I like that."

Emerald absolutely hissed. "She's flirting with him. I'll kill her."

The words were so soft that Pyrrha thought she'd imagined them at first. But no, they were painfully real.

"Sorry." Naruto arched an eyebrow, "I'm afraid I'm spoken for."

_"Such a shame."_

Pyrrha felt Emerald preen against her.

"Not as much as you'd think." he laughed. "She's a keeper."

Cinder swept into a different stance, bending low to the ground. "Lets see if I can change your mind."

Emerald started forward. Pyrrha clamped onto her right arm. Blake grabbed the left. Coco latched onto her waist.

"Stop flirting and get on with it already!" Adam shouted from the sidelines. "We don't have all day!"

Pyrrha agreed wholeheartedly.

Abruptly the duel came to an end.

Naruto flashed away from Cinder's blades and the razor edge of his rightmost shield came up under her chin. Her swords alighted on his throat a moment later, crossed and ready to draw blood. Aura buckled, then broke beneath the force of their simultaneous strike. They looked like two animals, ready to ravish one another. Chests heaving, eyes glazed. Pyrrha's gaze snapped up to the board, alarmed to find their aura _well_ past the red, scarcely a silver of it remained.

"Enough!" Miss Goodwitch snapped. "Both of you! The match is over! Miss Fall! To the infirmary with you!"

Naruto drew back first, drawing a small shiver from his opponent. Pyrrha frowned at it. That wasn't fear in Cinder's eyes, but something else. An unquantifiable emotion, one she wasn't at all familiar with. She looked like she wanted to make a snack of him. Emerald noticed it too; because she hastened to his side as he stepped out of the ring.

"You good?"

"Yeah," he grinned. "I'm fine."

He _was_ fine. Cinder hadn't hurt him at all.

So why did Pyrrha have a bad feeling about this?

* * *

(.0.0.0.)

* * *

"So? Whaddya think of him?"

"He is...adequate."

Cinder hummed and spared an indulgent glance over her shoulder as she finished wrapping the her right arm in gauze. Ah, dear Mercury. Always full of questions. Always eager to rise above his station. Always wanting to know more. She could respect such ambition. He wasn't an ideal minion, not by any stretch of the imagination, but he suited her purposes well enough. He was all she had. Thankfully he was easily placated and easily led by her whims. So long as she had the measure of him, he would never betray her.

His gaze slipped to the cuts on her arms and the mark still burned into her left shoulder. "Looks more than adequate to me."

Of course he wasn't adequate. She'd lied. He was so much more than that. He was...exemplary.

And he would be hers.

Mercury's days were numbered. She'd found his replacement. He simply failed to realize it.

Such a foolish child. Did he not realize Naruto had held back the lion's share of his strength? He could have broken her if he wanted to. If he'd but willed it, he would've humiliated her. Instead he'd deceived everyone into thinking it an even fight. Yes, Naruto had certainly restrained himself...or so she would have believed, were it not for the mark still-burned into her shoulder. He'd left it there. An accident, perhaps? Or was it a warning? One could never be too sure.

Why else would two criminals infiltrate Beacon? He and that little minx of his were up to something. They must be.

By comparison, her injuries were light. They'd not even scar. She'd felt the strength in his attacks, felt him reel it back in time and again despite acting like a madman. He'd not wanted to make a scene. That implied a weakness on his part, one she was determined to exploit. So long as their goals didn't conflict with her own, of course.

"So that's your plan, boss? Get into their good graces and destroy them from the inside out?" Mercury sounded skeptical and his expression told her as much. "Doesn't seem to be working."

Silly boy. Was that what he thought? Cinder knew better. She had already sown the seeds.

"Patience, dear Mercury." she soothed. "In time, they'll play right into our hands."

Naruto would be hers. Rather, he already was. He just didn't realize it yet.

No doubt he was advancing his own nefarious schemes even now...

* * *

_(.0.0.0.)_

* * *

Sometimes, Naruto wondered if his Semblance was cursed.

That shouldn't be possible of course; he hadn't stolen another Semblance in a long time, and certainly not one based on bad luck.

But this? _This_ felt like it.

It was meant to be a simple trip into Vale, a nice way to celebrate their first day. Coco's little bash wouldn't be until next week -he had the distinct feeling alcohol would be involved- but he'd been all too happy to honor Pyrrha's request and take his team into the city. After all, Vale was their home now. Best to learn the ins and outs of the city whole he could. Just in case something went wrong. Forewarned meant forearmed after all. And he was nothing if not the sensible sort.

Soy, yes, it should have been a nice day out.

Unfortunately, fate is seldom so kind and destiny delights in disaster. And so he found himself roped into another disaster of his own making. A simple excursion? Yeah, not so simple anymore. To think, it all stemmed from asking a single question. The simple desire to help someone. His luck really was the pits these days...

Blake groaned. "Why are we doing this again?"

"Because Naruto's a softie." Emerald prodded her on. "Keep looking."

Prryha offered a nervous laugh. "Surely it can't be that hard to find, right miss...?"

_"I know I had it somewhere around here!"_

"You're a bit of an odd duck, aint'cha?" Naruto blew out a sigh as he trailed after the speaker. "How the hell did you manage to lose a staff in the middle of the city?!"

"I'm not a duck!" the girl in question wrinkled her nose at him. "My name's Amber! I already told you that!"

A blond brow rose. "Question still stands, missy."

"I'm a bit clumsy, alright?!"

He kept walking.

_"Noisy girl..._

**A/N: READ THIS LEST YE BE CONFUSED!**

**Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Nice job, Naruto.**

**This chapter was a right blast to write, but I'm not quite satisfied with it; work's been pushing me hard as of late, and I'm trying to update everything on a monthly basis. So. Busy! Two jobs make things hard, and I'm honestly considering taking a vacation at this point, if only to prevent myself from collapsing...**

**As ever, lack of reviews murder my inspiration. If folks don't review, I tend to think they don't like a story, you know?**

**So in the Immortal Words of Atlas... ****...Revieeew... Would You Kindly?**

**They keeps an old man alive. ****And enjoy the (potential) previews!**

**References are references and I own nothing.**

**Next chapter: Last of the Real Ones.**

**Which do you like?**

_**SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!**_

_**READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!  
**_

_**PLOT DETAILS AHOY!**_

_**(POTENTIAL Previews)**_

_"Can his power break the Relics, I wonder? Could it slay maidens? Could it destroy the gods themselves?"_

* * *

_Emerald pushed him back and climbed atop him._

* * *

_"I wish I'd never unlocked this stupid Semblance."_

_"Atlas would kill for your it. So would Mistral. As would Vacuo. Even Menagerie would want your gift._

_"I'm nobody's lab rat."_

_Ozpin granted him a fatherly smile. "Well said. You are so much more than that."_

_Naruto clicked his tongue. "I'm not your weapon, either."_

_"But if you could make this world safe for those you love, wouldn't you?"_

* * *

_"I serve a power greater than you can possibly imagine."_

* * *

_"Good. You're up." Naruto's voice growled just out of sight. "Now we can start your history lesson. Long before there were scheming little twits like you, there was the gentlemen villain..._

**R&R~!**


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